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FRONTISPIECE.         SUSY'S  SIX  SERVANTS. 


w 

-o 


LITTLE   SUSY'S 

LITTLE  SERVANTS 


BY 

MRS.    E.    PRENTISS, 

OF  "LITTLE  SUSY'S  six  TKA.CHERS,"  "BIX  BIBTIIDAYB,  '  "TOT 

FLO  WEE  OP  TUB  FAMILY,"   ETC.,  ETC. 


FIRST   SERIES. 


NEW   YORK  : 
ANSON     D.     F.     RANDOLPH     &     COMPANY, 

38   WEST  TWENTY-THIRD   STREET. 


COPYRIGHT,  1856  AND  1883, 
BV 

D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  COMPART, 


LITTLE  SUSY'S  LITTLE   SERVANTS. 


CHAPTER    I 

As  Little  Susy  had  a  kind 
mamma  to  take  care  of  her,  you 
will,  perhaps,  wonder  why  God 
gave  her  also,  a  great  many  ser- 
vants of  her  own.  He  gave  her 
so  many,  that  you  might  spend 
your  whole  life  in  reading  about 
them.  But  I  shall  tell  you  of 


2051013 


6  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

only  a  very  few,  and  then  you 
can  ask  your  mamma  to  talk  to 
you  about  the  others.  For  the 
little  servants  Susy  had,  you  have, 
too. 

At  first  she  did  not  know  what 
they  were  for,  or  where  they  were. 
They  did  not  know,  either,  and  so 
they  were  useless.  Two  of  them 
were  black,  and  so  much  alike 
that  you  could  not  tell  one  from 
the  other.  Susy  kept  them  shut 
up  most  of  the  time,  so  that  no- 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  7 

body  could  see  them.  When  her 
aunts  and  cousins  came  to  see 
Susy,  they  would  say :  u  I  should 
think  she  might  let  us  see  them !" 
and  would  go  away  quite  disap- 
pointed. These  black  servants 
were  bright  little  things,  and  they 
soon  learned  to  amuse  Susy  a 
great  deal.  One  of  the  first 
things  they  did  for  her  was  to  let 
her  see  the  fire ;  and  that  sVe 
thought  very  beautiful. 

Susy  had  another  pair  of  twins 


8  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

for  her  servants,  who  knew  so  lit- 
tle what  they  were  for,  that  they 
used  to  slap  and  scratch  her  face. 
Her  mamma  said  she  should  have 
to  tie  them  up  if  they  did  so. 
Indeed,  many  a  little  baby  has 
had  them  all  covered  up  with 
white  rags,  to  keep  them  from 
doing  mischief  before  they  were 
old  enough  to  know  better.  But 
though  they  did  not  know  kow.  to 
behave,  they  were  very  pretty, 
tiny  little  things,  and  when  Susy's 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  9 

papa  knelt  down  and  took  one  of 
them  on  his  hand,  and  kissed  it, 
and  wondered  at  it,  and  said  what 
a  funny  wee  morsel  it  was,  why, 
it  looked,  to  be  sure,  like  a  pretty 
rose-leaf,  or  any  thing  else  soft, 
and  pink,  you  can  think  of. 

Susy  had  another  pair  of  twins, 
that  she  took  no  notice  of  for 
some  months.  They  did  not  learn 
how  to  wait  upon  her  so  soon  as 
some  of  the  others  did.  They 
were  restless  little  fat  things,  sel 


10  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

dom  still  a  moment,  and  about  all 
they  knew  was  how  to  kick  holes 
in  blue  and  white  socks. 

Susy  had  still  another  pair  of 
twins,  not  very  pretty,  but  very 
useful,  for  without  them  she  never 
could  have  heard  her  mamma 
sing,  or  her  papa  whistle  ;  or  the 
shovel  and  tongs  fall  down  and 
make  such  a  charming  noise ;  nor 
the  pussy-cat  say  '  mew!'  nor  the 
doggy  say  '  bow  wow  1' 

She  had  one  more  little  servant 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  11 

that  she  kept  out  of  sight  all  the 
time.  All  it  was  good  for  at  first, 
was  to  help  her  get  a  great  many 
breakfasts,  and  dinners,  and  sup- 
pers every  day.  But  it  became 
good  for  a  great  deal  more,  after 
a  while. 

But  if  I  go  on  in  this  way,  I 
arn  afraid  you  will  get  puzzled, 
you  are  such  a  little  creature.  So 
if  you  will  guess  the  names  of 
these  servants  of  Susy,  I  will 
give  you  three  guesses.  And  if 


12  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

you  do  not  guess  right  the  1  ird 
time,  you  will  have  to  peep  into 
the  glass,  when  you  will  see  most 
of  your  own  ;  I  mean  those  I  have 
been  talking  about. 


LITTLE  SEKVANTS.  13 


CHAPTER  IL 

WELL  !  did  you  look  at  yourself 
in  the  glass  ?  If  you  did,  you 
saw  in  the  middle  of  your  face 
your  black,  or  blue  or  gray  ser- 
vants, your  two  eyes.  No  matter 
what  color  they  are ;  one  kind  is 
as  good  as  another  kind. 

As  soon  as  Susy  found  out 
what  hers  could  do,  she  kept 
them  very  busy  indeed.  If  sho 


!4  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

wanted  to  see  her  mamma,  her  eyes 
vrould  not  wait  for  her  to  bid 
them  let  her  look  at  her ;  for  they 
knew  her  thoughts  as  well  as  she 
knew  them  herself.  They  amused 
her  while  she  lay  on  her  mamma's 
lap,  by  showing  her  the  bright 
sunshine  that  came  in  at  the  win- 
dows, the  white  curtains,  and  the 
ball  of  gay  worsted  in  the  work- 
basket.  When  she  was  turned 
over,  her  face  downwards,  to  have 
her  frock  tied,  they  showed  her 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  15 

(he  carpet,  so  as  to  keep  her  from 
crying.  When  they  were  tired, 
Susy  had  a  soft  coverlid  with  a 
beautiful  fringe,  that  she  could 
draw  down  over  them,  and  then 
they  could  rest  all  night.  God 
made  this  coverlid  on  purpose. 
The  finest  cambric  handkerchief  is 
coarser ;  God  only .  can  make  a 
cover  soft  enough  for  the  eye. 

After  Susy  was  washed  and 
dressed  in  the  morning,  and  had 
had  her  breakfast,  her  mamma 


16  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

would  lay  her  down  upon  tlie 
bed,  and  spread  a  small  blanket 
over  her.  Then  the  busy,  bright 
eyes  would  look  up  to  the  wall, 
and  look  and  look  at  a  small 
spot  of  sunshine  there,  till  at 
last  they  grew  tired,  and  the  soft 
coverlid  would  begin  to  come 
drooping,  drooping  down,  and 
Susy  would  be  fast  asleep.  Or 
in  the  midst  of  the  dark  night,  if 
she  woke  up  and  did  not  know 
what  else  to  do,  she  could  look 


IJTTLE    SERVANTS  17 

at  the  night-lamp  that  sat  on  the 
floor  in  the  corner,  and  wonder 
what  it  was,  and  how  far  off. 

Every  thing  in  the  world  was 
new  to  Susy,  and  as  she  grew 
older  and  her  eyes  grew  stronger, 
they  kept  showing  her  all  sorts  of 
pretty  things,  and  made  the  time 
pass  away  very  quickly  indeed. 
How  pleased  Susy  was  the  first 
time  they  showed  her  the  sweet 
mile  of  love  with  which  her 
mamma  looked  at  her!  She 


18  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

would   have  jumped   for   joy    if 
she  had  been  big  enough. 

But  while  her  two  eyes  were  so 
busy  in  doing  all  they  could  to 
amuse  her,  her  two  ears  wrere  not 
idle,  and  one  day  when  she  was 
yet  a  very  little  baby,  she  heard 
a  pleasant  sound  of  bells  ringing 
Cor  church,  that  was  as  sweet  as 
music.  She  looked  surprised, 
and  listened,  and  listened,  and 
threw  up  her  arms  and  smiled, 
After  that,  if  she  cried  when  she 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  19 

was  washed,  some  body  would 
rattle  the  tongs  and  shovel,  or 
make  some  such  queer  noise,  and 
she  would  stop  crying  to  hear  it. 
So  then  I  suppose  her  ears  were 
very  glad,  and  now  they  could 
help  her  pass  her  time  much  more 
pleasantly  than  before;  for  they 
could  help  her  hear  her  mamma 
sing,  and  what  sort  of  a  sound 
keys  make  when  they  jingle 
together,  and  all  that.  Susy  was 
astonished  at  every  thing  she 


20  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

heard  for  she  never  had  been 
where  there  were  such  wonderful 
iioises  before.  And  when  Sarah 
put  coals  on  the  fire,  Susy  would 
start,  and  perhaps  think  it  was  an 
earthquake  unless  her  mamma 
smiled,  as  much  as  to  say :  "  Don't 
be  frightened,  darling  1" 

So  what  with  her  eyes,  and  her 
ears,  and  her  soft  red  tongue  to 
get  dinner  with,  Susy  was  a  very 
happy  baby,  growing  fatter  and 
stronger  and  wiser  every  day. 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  2, 


CHAPTER  HI. 

BUT  one  morning,  when  she 
was  ten  weeks  old,  Susy  began 
to  play  with  a  play-thing.  What 
do  you  think  it  was  ?  Why,  her 
own  little  hand  !  She  felt  of  it, 
lifted  it  up  and  looked  at  it,  tast- 
ed of  it,  and  admired  it  verj 
much.  A  grave  judge,  sitting  on 
his  bench,  and  looking  as  wise  as 
Solomon,  could  hardly  look  graver 


22  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

or  wiser  than  Susy  did  when  she 
first  found  out  she  had  two  little 
hands.  How  she  turned  them 
over,  and  tangled  up  the  tiny  fin- 
gers, and  twisted  and  doubled 
them  !  Now  she  thought  she  had 
found  out  what  those  little  things 
were  for,  that  had  been  doing 
nothing  but  slap  and  scratch  and 
grow  fat.  Why,  they  were  to 
play  with,  to  be  sure  !  And  she 
never  would  have  to  cry  for  them 
or  get  up  to  look  for  them,  for 


LITTLE    SERVANT^.  2* 

there  they  were,  always  close  by, 
and  so  nice  and  soft !  So  Susj 
played  with  her  hands,  and  cooed 
to  them,  and  told  them  stones  in 
Greek,  or  Latin,  or  Dutch, nobody 
knows,  and  was  quite  cheery  and 
happy. 

Her  mamma  was  very  much 
pleased  to  see  Susy  playing 
with  her  hands,  and  after  a  time 
she  offered  her  a  little  piece 
of  paper.  Susy  looked  at  it  and 
wanted  to  take  it.  But  her  hands 


94  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

did  not  know  how  ;  all  they  were 
good  for  was  to  play  with  each 
other.  But  they  wanted  to  learn 
to  hold  things  for  Susy,  and  tried 
very  hard,  every  day,  until  at  last 
they  did  learn  to  hold  her  rattle 
for  her,  and  then  an  orange,  and 
then  a  bunch  of  keys.  Nice  little 
servants  !  Don't  you  think  so  ? 
And  by  this  time  Susy  made  a 
great  discovery.  She  found  out 
that  she  had  two  feet  of  her  own, 
and  thought  it  would  be  a  good 


HTTLT:  SERVANTS.         25 

plan  to  get  one  of  them  into  her 
mouth.  She  worked  very  hard, 
before  she  succeeded,  and  was 
such  a  busy  little  baby  that  she 
could  hardly  spare  time  to  eat  her 
breakfast.  I  suppose  she  thought 
all  those  fat  little  feet  were  made 
for,  was  just  for  her  to  play  with ; 
just  as  she  had  thought  about  her 
hands. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  see 
a  letter  that  Susy  wrote  to  her 
little  cousin  about  these  times.  I 


26  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

rather  think  she  must  have  got 
her  mamma,  or  some  body,  to 
write  it  for  her. 

MY  DEAR  COUSIN: 

Since  I  last  wrote  you,  I  have 
grown  a  good  deal,  for  I  am  now 
six  months  old.  I  can  not  sit 
alone  yet,  for  when  I  try,  I  fall 
over  sideways.  But  with  a  pil- 
low l>ehind  me,  I  can  sit  up  very 
well,  and  play  with  my  toys.  I 
have  an  old  basket  half  full  of 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  2t 

playthings,  about  which  I  will 
tell  you.  First  I  have  an  ivory 
ring,  with  a  blue  string  in  it ;  but 
I  don't  think  much  of  that.  Then 
I  have  a  large  glass  stopper  that 
came  out  of  a  vinegar  cruet. 
Thirdly  I  have  two  spools  tied 
together,  and  fastened  to  them, 
some  how,  is  a  whole  piece  of 
tape  that  I  snatched  out  of  my 
mamma's  basket,  and  sucked  till 
she  said  it  was  good  for  nothing, 
and  I  might  as  well  keep  it 


28  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Fourthly  I  have  a  cork  that 
to  be  in  a  bottle  of  something 
sweet,  for  it  tastes  very  good :  I 
am  fond  of  this  cork,  and  lie  on 
the  floor  and  play  with  it,  just  as 
a  cat  plays  with  a  mouse.  I 
have  also  a  half  dollar  with  a 
hole  in  it,  that  my  grandmamma 
gave  me ;  but  I  always  cry  when 
I  play  with  it,  for  it  is  so  hard  it 
hurts  my  mouth.  I  have  a  great 
many  rags  that  my  mamma  has 
given  me.  When  she  cuts  oul 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  29 

my  little  frocks,  she  gives  me  the 
pieces  that  are  left,  and  some  are 
white,  some  pink,  and  some  blue. 
You  see  I  am  going  to  wear 
short  frocks  pretty  soon.  But 
my  best  playthings  are  two  red 
sticks  that  were  a  part  of  an  old 
fan  your  mamma  left  here.  The 
other  day  I  was  lying  on  the 
floor,  and  I  thought  I  would  see 
how  far  I  could  get  one  of  them 
down  my  throat.  When  I  had 
pushed  it  a  good  way,  I  began  to 


dO  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

cry.  My  mamma  caught  me  up 
and  pulled  it  out,  but  my  throat 
bled  and  was  sore,  so  I  guess  I 
won't  push  it  in  so  far,  next 
time. 

Sometimes  I  go  and  pay  a  visit 
to  our  old  cat  and  her  three  kit- 
tens. I  talk  to  them  as  loud  as  I 
can,  but  they  do  not  seem  to 
understand  what  I  say.  And 
they  don't  like  it  when  I  try  to 
put  them  in  my  mouth 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  as  I 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  31 

increase  in  wisdom  I  grow  in 
naughtiness.  I  always  cry  all 
the  time  mamma  is  washing  and 
dressing  me,  and  am  very  angry 
with  her,  for  I  don't  like  to  be 
washed.  And  the  moment  I  see 
her  take  out  my  basket  at  night, 
so  as  to  undress  me  and  put  me 
to  bed,  I  scream  with  all  my 
might,  and  never  stop  till  I  feel 
something  soft  in  my  mouth. 
Last  night  as  I  lay  on  the  floor 
playing  with  my  beloved  cork, 


32  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

mamma  came  behind  me  and  un- 
fastened all  my  clothes,  so  that 
time  I  did  not  cry.  I  have  two 
feet  that  I  find  very  handy  to  kick 
with  when  I  am  angry,  and  two 
hands  that  pick  up  my  toys  when 
I  want  to  play,  and  two  eyes  that 
show  me  pictures  and  other  pretty 
things,  and  that  never  get  any  rest 
except  when  I  am  asleep.  And 
if  you  ever  answer  this  letter,  I 
have  two  ears  with  which  I  hear 
it  read. 


IITTLE   SERVANTS.  33 

I  am  a  very  good  baby  when  I 
wake  in  the  morning.  I  lie  in 
bed  a  good  while,  playing  with 
my  feet,  or  any  thing  else  I  can 
get  hold  of.  Sometimes  I  untie 
mamma's  cap  strings  and  some- 
times I  scratch  and  pull  her 
cheeks  and  chin.  Very  often  I 
almost  pull  papa's  nose  off  his 
face,  for  I  don't  know  what  he 
wants  of  it  when  he  is  fast  asleep. 
Doesn't  this  remind  you  of  old 
times,  three  or  four  years  ago, 


84  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

when  you  were  a  baby  ?  If  you 
ever  come  here  I  shall  not  know 
what  to  do  to  amuse  you,  for  I 
can  not  talk.  I  should  scratch 
your  face  and  pull  your  hair, 
and  put  my  fingers  in  your  eyes ; 
I  don't  know  any  better,  I  am 
such  a  little  baby.  I  am  very 
tired  now,  and  must  bid  you 
good  by ;  but  one  of  these  days 
I  will  write  you  another  letter. 
Your  little  cousin, 

SUSY. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  85 


CHAPTER  IV. 

long  after  Susy  sent  her 
letter,  her  mamma  bought  some 
tiny  little  shoes  and  stockings  for 
her.  Susy  was  very  much  pleased 
indeed,  and  at  first  she  would 
keep  untying  her  shoes  and  tak- 
ing them  off.  But  one  day  when 
she  awoke  from  her  nap,  she  took 
hold  of  the  two  sides  of  her 
cradle,  and  stood  up  straight  in  it. 


36  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Now  she  had  found  out  that  feet 
were  not  made  just  for  play- 
things, but  to  stand  on.  She  was 
so  glad !  She  kept  taking  hold 
of  the  chairs,  and  her  mamma's 
dress,  or  the  legs  of  the  table,  so 
as  to  pull  herself  up  on  to  her 
feet,  and  pretty  soon  she  would 
stand  at  a  chair  with  her  toys, 
and  play  by  the  hour,  and  if  the 
chair  moved  a  little,  from  her 
leaning  against  it,  her  feet  would 
move  too,  first  one,  then  the 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  37 

other,  learning  how  to  walk 
How  delighted  every  body  was, 
when  one  day  Susy  got  up  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor,  and  ran  across 
the  room  !  It  would  be  hard  to 
tell  which  laughed  most — Susy, 
or  her  papa  or  her  mamma. 

Now  Susy  had  learned  how  to 
use  all  her  little  servants,  except 
her  tongue.  And  you  must  know 
that  her  mamma  had  been  giving 
her  lessons  on  that  subject  every 
day.  That  is,  she  kept  coaxing 


88  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

and  begging  her  to  say,  "  papa ;' 
and  I  don't  know  how  many 
hundred  times  a  day  she  cried 
out  to  Susy,  "  Say  papa  /"  But 
Susy  did  not  say  papa,  and  all 
the  private  lessons  were  in  vain. 
But  one  evening,  when  she  had 
the  toothache  and  could  not 
sleep  she  stretched  forth  her  hand 
and  said  "book,"  to  her  mam- 
ma's great  delight,  who  thought 
there  was  no  doubt  her  baby  was 
going  to  be  very  fond  of  books 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  39 

indeed.  Now  Susy  had  found 
out  that  her  tongue  was  very  use 
ful,  for  her  mamma  gave  her  the 
book  she  had  asked  for ;  so  she 
soon  learned  to  say  a  great  many 
other  words. 

Did  you  ever  think  before,  how 
long  it  takes  a  baby  to  learn  how 
to  use  the  little  eyes  and  hands 
and  feet,  God  has  been  so  good 
as  to  give  it  ?  If  you  watch 
your  baby  brother  or  sister,  you 
will  see  how  awkward  it  is  at 


40  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

first  about  using  its  hands ;  and 
do  not  you  remember  how  eage* 
you  were  to  hear  it  speak  its  first 
word,  and  to  see  it  trot  about  on 
its  own  little  feet  ? 

But  all  this  time  I  have  only 
spoken  of  Susy's  hands  and  feet, 
and  ears,  and  eyes,  and  tongue, 
as  being  useful  to  herself,  and 
have  not  said  a  word  about  their 
doing  things  for  other  people. 
Now  it  is  not  likely  that  God 
meant  any  little  child  should  live 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  41 

m  this  world,  where  there  is  so 
much  to  do,  and  do  nothing  for 
its  papa  and  mamma,  and  nothing 
for  Him  who  has  done  so  much 
for  its  happiness  and  comfort. 
And  he  is  so  kind,  and  loves  so 
to  please  those  who  love  Him, 
that  long  before  Susy  was  old 
enough  to  know  it,  He  taught  her 
small  baby  hands  to  begin  some 
of  the  sweetest  work  He  made 
them  to  do.  When,  in  the  midst 
of  a  sleepless  night  in  which 


42  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Susy's  mamma  watched  over,  and 
sang  to,  and  cared  for  her,  she 
had  such  a  reward,  such  precious 
payment  for  all  her  fatigue  and 
labor,  that  a  queen  might  have 
envied  her.  What  do  you  think 
it  was  ?  Why,  it  was  feeling 
Susy's  little  hand  pat  and  caress 
her  face  in  the  dark  night,  or  lie 
folded  lovingly  in  her  own,  or 
clinging  fast  to  her  neck  with  all 
the  strength  a  baby  can  use. 
Then  a  thrill  of  joy  would  rush 


LITTLE  SEKVAOTS.  43 

through  her  mamma's  heart,  and 
she  would  forget  every  thing  the 
world  has  in  it  of  trouble,  and 
thank  God  for  giving  her  a 
baby  to  liva  and  to  work  for,  and 
a  baby  to  love  and  comfort  her 
in  return. 


U  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER  V. 

So  day  after  day  passed,  and 
one  or  another  of  Susy's  little 
servants  was  always  busy  in  doing 
something  for  her  pleasure. 
Either  her  hands  played  with 
pretty  toys,  or  her  eyes  looked 
at  beautiful  pictures  and  kind, 
loving  faces  of  dear  friends,  or 
her  ears  listened  to  sweet  music 
or  amusing  stories,  or  her  feet 


LITTLE    SERVANTS.  45 

earned  her  up  and  down,  here 
and  there  and  everywhere.  If 
she  had  had  no  eyes,  she  could 
have  used  her  hands,  but  she 
could  not  have  seen  the  toys  they 
held.  If  she  had  had  no  ears, 
she  could  never  have  heard  her 
mamma's  voice,  nor  ever  learned 
to  talk  or  to  sing.  If  she  had  had 
no  hands,  she  could  have  walked 
about,  and  looked  at  pretty  things, 
but  she  could  have  touched  no 
toy,  held  no  dear  dolly,  caressed 


46  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

and  patted  no  little  kitty.  And 
if  she  had  been  without  feet,  she 
might  have  used  her  eyes,  and 
her  ears,  and  her  hands,  and  her 
tongue,  but  when  other  children 
jumped  and  ran  and  played,  Susy 
must  have  sat  still  in  her  little 
chair,  and  felt  what  a  long,  long 
day  that  is  when  one  can  not 
move. 

I  dare  say  you  know  some  lit- 
tle boy  who  can  not  hear  or  talk, 
or  some  pale  little  girl  who  can 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  47 

not  run  and  play.  And  if  God 
has  been  so  very  good  to  you  as 
to  give  you  what  He  has  not  seen 
best  to  give  them,  how  you  ought 
to  thank  him  !  And  how  happy 
you  should  be  if  you  ever  can 
lend  a  book  or  give  a  flower,  or 
do  any  kind  act  for  the  deaf  and 
dumb  boy  who  never  heard  his 
mamma  call  him  "  darling !"  no 
matter  how  many  times  she  may 
have  said  it.  And  if  you  can 
ever  be  what  the  Bible  calls  "  feet 


48  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

to  the  lame  ;"  if  you  run  to  pick 
up  that  little  pale  girl's  ball  if  she 
drops  it ;  if  you  can  go  up  stairs 
to  get  her  doll  when  she  wants  it, 
would  not  that  be  making  your 
own  little  servants  useful  and 
very  happy  ?  And  if  you  ever 
happen  to  be  where  there  is  a 
blind  child,  would  you  not  like  to 
lend  it  your  eyes  now  and  then  ? 
A.nd  as  you  can  not  do  that,  you 
would  surely  love  to  take  it  by 
4ie  hand  and  lead  it  about ;  and 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  4'J 

when  you  are  old  enough  to  read 
you  would  read  pretty  stories  to 
it  ?  There  was  once  a  dear  little 
boy  not  much  more  than  two 
years  old,  who  became  very  ill. 
His  head  ached  so  that  he  did 
not  love  to  play  or  run  about. 
He  liked  to  have  his  papa  or 
mamma  carry  him  round  the 
room,  and  then  when  his  poor 
head  did  not  ache  too  hard,  they 
would  talk  to  him  and  tell  him 
stories.  One  day  his  papa  said 


60  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

to  his  mamma :  "I  do  not  believe 
^ur  little  Charlie  will  ever  get 
•well.  I  think  that  Jesus  will 
soon  take  him  up  to  heaven. 
And  I  mean  to  talk  to  him  a 
great  deal  about  Jesus,  so  that 
the  moment  he  gets  to  heaven  he 
will  be  happy  to  be  near  such  a 
dear^  kind  Friend."  So  Charlie's 
papa  often  took  his  poor  little 
boy  in  his  arms,  and  let  him  lay 
his  head  on  his  shoulder,  while 
he  walked  gently  up  and  down 


LITTLE  SEKYANTS.  51 

talking  about  Christ.  He  told 
him  all  those  sweet  stories  from 
the  Bible,  how  Jesus  pitied  sick 
people,  and  how  he  cured  them, 
and  how  many  lame  men  he  made 
to  walk,  and  how  many  blind  to 
see.  So  one  day  after  he  had 
been  talking  so,  he  had  to  give 
Charlie  to  his  nurse  while  he  went 
out  for  a  time,  and  Charlie  lay 
with  his  head  on  her  shoulder, 
mst  as  he  had  done  on  his  papa's, 
till  all  at  once  he  lifted  it  up,  and 


52  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

said :  "  Mary  did  you  kiiow  that 
Jesus  hadn't  any  eyes  ?" 

"  Oh!  yes,  Jesus  had  eyes,"  said 
Mary. 

"  He  had  some  once,  but  He 
gave  them  to  a  poor  blind  man/ 
said  Charlie. 

You  see  Charlie  was  such  a  lit- 
tle boy  that  he  thought  when  his 
papa  told  him  that  Jesus  gave 
eyes  to  a  blind  man,  that  he  had 
to  give  him  his  own. 

Little  Charlie  is  in  heaven  now 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  53 

and  has  been  there  a  great  many 
years.  And  he  has  long  known 
more  about  the  goodness  of 'God 
than  any  body  who  still  lives  in 
this  world.  And  if  he  could 
speak  to  you,  he  would  tell  you 
that  it  is  better  to  be  without 
eyes  and  hands  and  feet,  than  not 
to  love  Him  who  was  willing  rather 
to  die  than  that  you  should  not 
know  and  love  Him. 


54  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER  VL 

I  HAVE  spoken  of  some  of  the 
good  things  Susy's  little  servants 
could  do.  and  I  am  sorry  to  have 
to  say  that  she  sometimes  let 
them  do  naughty  ones. 

The  first  thing  was  while  she 
was  still  a  baby,  when  she  raised 
her  hand  to  slap  her  dear,  kind 
mamma  because  she  was  going 
to  wash  her.  Little  babies  often 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  55 

do  so  before  they  have  been 
taught  better.  The  moment  Susy' 
hand  had  given  the  slap,  she  saw 
that  her  mamma's  face  became 
grave  and  displeased.  Then  Susy 
was  sorry,  and  she  made  haste  to 
kiss  the  place  she  had  hurt,  and 
the  tears  rolled  down  her  cheeks. 
But  pretty  soon,  when  something 
else  vexed  her,  she  lifted  her  lit- 
tle hand,  and  was  going  to  strike 
with  it.  Her  mamma  caught  it 
in  hers,  and  looked  at  it  gravely, 


56  LITTLE  BUSIES 

and  said  :  "  Naughty  little  hand  I1 
Then  Susy  began  to  cry  again 
and  she  cried  so  much  that  hei 
mamma  had  to  lend  her  her  hand- 
kerchief to  wipe  away  her  tears. 
Almost  every  day  the  little  hand 
was  naughty  in  this  way,  but  at 
last  Susy's  mamma  cured  it,  by 
always  tying  a  red  mitten  on  it 
whenever  it  slapped.  It  did  not 
like  to  wear  a  mitten  at  all, 
because  then  it  could  not  pick 
up  its  toys  so  well 


UTTLE   SERVANTS.  57 

After  Susy  had  learned  not  to 
strike,  her  little  hands  began  to 
grow  meddlesome,  that  is,  to 
touch  and  take  things  they  should 
not  have  touched.  One  day  they 
tore  the  newspaper  all  to  pieces. 
Once  they  cut  off  all  her  hair,  as 
far  as  they  could  reach  it.  One 
of  them  got  into  the  sugar-bowl 
and  took  three  lumps  of  sugar. 
And  once,  when  they  were  in  the 
country,  and  there  was  a  wash- 
stand  in  the  room,  Susy  tried  to 


68  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

open  the  drawer,  and  pulled  the 
wash-stand  over,  broke  the  pitcher 
spilled  the  water,  and  frightened 
every  body  very  much  indeed. 

All  these  things  made  a  deal 
of  trouble.  Susy's  mamma  had 
to  keep  all  the  time  teaching 
her  that  she  must  not  do  so.  It 
took  her  a  great  while  to  teach 
Susy  that  there  were  some  things 
she  must  not  touch. 

And  when  the  busy  little  hands 
began  to  learn  what  they  were 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  59 

taught,  then  the  little  feet  began 
to  get  into  trouble.  One  day 
before  Susy  was  old  enough  to 
go.  up  and  down  stairs  by  herself, 
her  mamma  had  visitors,  and 
Susy  kept  talking  and  talking  at 
such  a  rate  that  at  last  nobody 
else  could  be  heard.  So  her 
mamma  took  her  into  the  hall 
and  seated  her  on  the  lowest 
stair,  where  Susy  was  fond  of  sit- 
ting, and  said  to  her :  "  My  little 
Susy  must  sit  here  a  while 


60  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

because  she  does  not  mind  mam 
ma  and  stop  talking."  Pretty 
soon  she  heard  a  little  voice  cry 
out,  "  Mamma  !  aren't  you  afraid 
your  little  girl  will  fall  down 
stairs?"  and  on  running  to  see 
what  that  meant,  there  was  Susy 
sitting  on  the  top  stair,  smiling 
and  looking  very  happy  to  think 
she  had  played  such  a  trick. 
And  not  long  after,  the  two 
truant  feet  carried  Susy  out  into 
the  street,  among  the  carts  and 


Page  60.  SUSY'S  SIX  SERVANTS.  ist  Series. 


LITTLE    SEKVAETS.  61 

horses,  and  if  God  had  not  taken 
care  of  her,  she  would  certainty 
have  been  killed.  And  another 
time  Susy  climbed  up  and  was 
just  going  to  put  one  foot  out  of 
the  window,  when  her  mamma 
caught  her  by  her  dress,  and 
pulled  her  back.  I  suppose  you 
did  just  such  things  when  you 
were  a  baby,  and  your  mamma 
might  amuse  you  by  telling  you 
about  it. 

Susy  was  not  so  mischievous 


62  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

as  some  children  are,  and  when  she 
was  three  years  old,  and  had  learn- 
ed what  she  might  do,  and  what 
she  must  not,  her  mamma  could 
leave  her  all  alone  in  the  parlor, 
with  a  few  toys,  and  be  quite  sure 
that  she  would  touch  nothing  she 
had  been  forbidden  to  touch,  nor 
climb  up  into  dangerous  places, 
nor  take  any  dangerous  thing. 
The  scissors  might  lie  on  the 
table,  and  the  sharp  knife  open 
by  her  side ;  the  good  little  hands 


L7ITLE   SERVANTS.  68 

would  n>t  touch  them.  Nor 
would  the  obedient  little  feet 
now  take  Susy  near  the  fire 
where  she  could  so  easily  have 
been  burned.  If  Susy  promised 
to  do  a  thing,  she  always  did  it, 
and  so  her  mamma  often  let  her 
play  fy  herself  in  the  parlor, 
wher.  up  in  the  nursery  Robbie 
had  i  ot  yet  learned  not  to  get 
iway  all  her  toys. 


64  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER.  VIL 

WHEN  Susy  first  learned  to 
walk,  she  was  so  pleased  to  find 
that  she  could  run  about,  that 
she  liked  very  much  to  run  to 
get  things  for  her  papa  or  mam- 
ma. She  felt  herself  almost  a 
young  lady  when  she  found  she 
could  lift  one  of  papa's  boots 
and  carry  it  to  him;  and  how 
pleased  she  was  when  her  mam- 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  65 

ma  sent  her  to  get  her  work-bas- 
ket !  When  Eobbie  was  dressed 
she  liked  to  stand  by,  and  hold 
the  pins,  and  she  even  thought 
she  could  brush  his  hair,  and  tie 
his  frocks,  if  they  would  let  her 
try. 

But  as  she  grew  older,  and 
stronger,  and  wiser,  and  so  better 
able  to  run  for  mamma,  or  to  wait 
upon  her  papa,  Susy  grew  selfish. 
If  her  mamma  said,  "  Susy  bring 
me  my  work,"  Susy  would  say, 


66  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  In  a  minute,  mamma  !"  and  go 
on  playing.  Or  she  would  ask, 
"  Must  I  bring  it  ?"  or,  «  Mayn't  I 
wait  till  I  have  finished  my  house?" 
And  if  her  papa  said,  "  Doesn't 
my  little  Susy  wa^nt  to  rub  papa's 
head?"  she  would  be  likely  to 
give  it  one  or  two  little  rubs,  ,*nd 
then  run  off  to  play  again. 

A  great  many  ways  were  ti  led 
to  cure  Susy  of  these  faults. 
One  of  the  best  was  never  to 
allow  her  to  do  a  little  favor 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  67 

after  she  had  objected  to  do  it. 
When  her  mamma  asked  her  to 
run  and  get  a  book  for  her,  if 
Susy  looked  fretful,  or  went 
slowly,  or  said,  "  Oh !  dear  !"  then 
her  papa  would  say,  "  Stop,  Susy, 
you  can  not  go.  Nobody  shall 
wait  on  dear  mamma  who  looks 
and  speaks  so!"  and  then  he 
would  go  for  the  book  himself, 
and  Susy  would  feel  so  ashamed ! 
And  as  soon  as  Robbie  was  able 
to  use  his  feet  and  hands,  Susy 


68  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

learned  from  his  behavior  to  try 
to  obey  quickly  and  cheerfully; 
for  no  matter  how  busy  Robbie 
was,  he  always  smiled  when  papa 
called  him  to  get  things  for  him, 
and  if  Susy  did  not  jump  the 
very  moment  she  was  spoken  to, 
Robbie  would  get  it  first,  and 
then  he  would  have  a  sweet  kiss 
and  a  loving  smile,  as  his  re- 
ward. 

But  you  must  not  think  Susy 
did  not  try  to  grow  good,  or  thai 


LITTLE^  SEKVANTS  69 

she  never  was  good.  Her  papa 
and  mamma  often  had  a  great  deal 
of  comfort  in  seeing  how  hard  she 
tried  to  do  kind,  loving  things  for 
them.  If  she  saw  her  papa  look 
tired,  she  would  often  go  to  him 
and  say,  "  Dear  papa !  when  I  am 
a  big  girl  I  mean  to  work  and  let 
you  sit  still !"  and,  "  May  1  rub 
your  head  ?  May  I  get  your  slip- 
pers ?"  And  when  her  mamma 
saw  her  feeling  and  behaving  so 
sweetly,  she  did  not  forget  to 


TO  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

tell  her  when  she  went  to  bed, 
liow  much  pleasure  it  had  given 
her. 

"My  little  hands  have  been 
good  hands  to-day,"  Susy  said 
one  night.  "  And  I  wish  mamma 
would  kiss  them  when  they've 
been  good.'7  Her  mamma  smil- 
ed, and  kissed  them,  and  then 
Susy  folded  them  together,  and 
knelt  down  and  prayed.  And 
ifter  she  had  got  into  bed.  she 
said :  "  My  hands  will  never  be 


LITTLE    SERVANTS.  71 

naughty  any  more.  Never  strike 
Robbie,  never  take  away  his 
toys,  never  touch  any  body's 
things." 

And  then  her  mamma  told  her 
a  story  about  a  little  girl  who 
stood  by  her  brother's  coffin,  and 
taking  up  the  small,  cold  hand, 
kissed  it,  and  said :  "  This  little 
hand  never  struck  me!"  Susy 
lay  still,  and  thought  and  thought 
a  good  while,  after  hearing  this 
story. 


72  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  Mamma  I"  said  she,  at  last, 
1 1  will  try  to  be  good.  And 
then  perhaps  when  I  am  dead, 
you  will  'member  me,  and  you  can 
take  hold  of  my  little  hand,  and  say, 
1  This  little  hand  wasn't  always  a 
good  little  hand,  but  it  tried  to  be 
good,  and  sometimes  it  patted 
and  loved  me.' "  Then  Susy  put 
up  her  hand,  and  caressed  her 
mamma's  cheek,  and  kept  say- 
ing, "Dear  mamma!  kind  mam- 
ma 1"  till  she  fell  asleep. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  73 


CHAPTER  VHL 

u  MAXIMA  I"  said  Susy,  one  day 
as  they  were  walking  home  from 
church,  "there  is  a  little  girl  in 
my  class  at  Sunday-school,  who 
loves  me  dearly.  She  always 
hugs  my  hands  and  hugs  them." 

Her  mamma  smiled,  atid  said. 
**  Then  I  hope  you  '  hugged7  hers 
too." 


74  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  I  was  afraid  to,"  said  Susy. 

"  Then  that  little  girl  was  disap 
pointed,  I  dare  say.     You  should 
have  let  her  see  that  you  were 
grateful  to  her  for  loving  you." 

"  I  turned  my  head  away  round 
— so — "  said  Susy. 

"Instead  of  that  you  should 
have  smiled,  and  looked  kindly  at 
her,  as  much  as  to  say,  I  like 
to  have  you  love  me,  and  I  love 
you,  too." 

Susy  looked  down,  and  smil- 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  7/> 

ed.     "  I  was  afraid  to,"  she  said 
again. 

They  walked  along  together  in 
silence  for  some  time.  At  last 
Susy  quite  forgot  what  they  had 
been  talking  about,  and  began  to 
think  what  a  pleasant  day  it  was, 
and  how  sweet  and  fresh  the  air 
felt,  and  how  nice  it  was  to  walk 
with  her  dear  papa  and  mamma, 
and  while  she  thought  thus,  she 
clasped  the  hand  she  held,  more 
firmly  and  lovingly.  Her  mam- 


76  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

ma,  however,  took  no  notice  of 
this,  and  turned  her  head  away. 

Susy  felt  hurt. 

"  Mamma  does  not  love  me  a 
bit,"  thought  she,  and  she  was 
going  to  draw  away  her  hand. 

Her  mamma  looked  down  and 
smiled  and  said  playfully :  "  Oh  1 
I  felt  your  little,  loving  squeeze, 
but  I  was  afraid  to  take  any  no- 
tice of  it." 

Susy  smiled  too.  She  never 
forgot  this  little  lesson,  and  it 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  77 

was  useful  to  her  as  long  as  she 
lived. 

Children  should  not  only  learn 
to  observe  little  tokens  of  love, 
but  to  be  grateful  for  them. 

"  Mamma,  was  I  a  good  girl  in 
church  ?"  said  Susy,  when  they 
reached  home. 

"  Yes,  pretty  good.  But  I  must 
tell  you  something  about  a  dear 
little  boy,  whose  life  you  shall  read, 
as  soon  as  you  are  old  enough. 
When  asked  if  there  were  many 


78  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

children  at  Sunday-school,  he 
said :  *  I  don't  know,  for  when  I 
am  there,  I  never  dare  to  look 
round.7  Now  your  little  hands 
were  very  good  in  church ;  and 
so  were  your  little  feet.  But  I 
thought  your  eyes  and  ears  were 
not  so  good." 

"  My  eyes  looked  round  a  good 
deal,"  said  Susy.  "  But  my  ears 
couldn't  do  any  thing  naughty." 

"  Yes  they  could,  dear  Susy, 
by  not  listening  to  what  was  said. 


LTTTLE   SERVANTS.  79 

Did  they  hear  any  thing  at  all  ?" 
'  No,  mamma.    I  was  busy,  think 
ing.     I  thinked  about   my  dol- 
lies." 

"  But  we  do  not  go  to  church 
to  think  about  dollies.  We  go 
to  praise  God,  and  hear  about 
Him." 

"Big  people  don't  have  any 
dollies,"  said  Susy. 

"  But  they  have  other  things 
that  they  like  as  well.  And  when 
they  first  go  into  church  they  ask 


80  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

God  to  help  them  not  to  think 
about  any  thing  but  Himself,  and 
to  hear  what  is  said.  For  in  the 
Bible  it  speaks  of  those  who 
having  ears,  hear  not — and  I  do 
not  want  my  little  Susy  to  be  one 
of  those." 

Susy  then  went  up  stairs  to  the 
nursery,  where  she  found  Robbie 
asleep  in  his  cradle.  She  went 
up  to  him  and  putting  her  mouth 
close  to  his  ear,  shouted,  "  Rob- 
bie !  Robbie  1" 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  81 

Robbie  opened  his  eyes,  turned 
over  and  smiled. 

"  You  naughty,  naughty  girl  I" 
said  his  nurse,  "to  wake  your 
brother  up.  I'll  tell  your  mamma, 
and  she'll  punish  you  well." 

"  I  didn't  mean  to  wake  him 
up,"  said  Susy.  "  I  only  wanted 
to  see  if  he  was  one  of  those  who 
having  ears,  hear  not.  And  I 
guess  he  isn't,  he  wakes  up  so 
easy." 

"  I'll  tell  your  mamma  the  very 


83  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

first  thing.  He  will  be  just  as 
cross  as  two  sticks.  Just  as  1 
had  got  him  to  sleep  !  It  is  too 
bad  I" 

Susy  looked  quite  puzzled  to 
know  what  she  had  done.  She 
ran  down  to  her  mamma,  and  told 
her  all  about  it. 

"  Was  I  naughty,  mamma  ?" 
she  asked. 

"  Yes,  I  think  you  were.  For 
you  know  how  often  I  have  told 
you  there  must  be  no  noise  wheu 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  83 

Robbie  was  asleep.  And  then  it 
was  wrong  to  use  God's  holy 
words  to  play  with." 

Susy  sighed.  "Oh!  dear  I" 
said  she.  "  First  my  ears  are 
naughty,  and  then  my  tongue. 
But  they  are  sorry,  mamma." 

Her  mamma  kissed  her,  and 
told  her  to  go  up  stairs  and 
amuse  Robbie,  as  she  had  made 
him  lose  his  nap.  So  Susy  went, 
and  said  in  a  pleasant  voice  to 
Nurse : 


84  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  IVe  come  to  'muse  Robbio 
because  I  woke  him  up,"  and 
Nurse  smiled  and  said : 

"  Well  you  are  a  good  child 
when  you  aren't  naughty." 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  85 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ONE  day  Susy  and  her  mamma 
and  Robbie  were  sitting  alone 
together  in  the  nursery.  Susy 
was  in  the  corner,  with  her  toys, 
and  Robbie  sat  on  his  mamma's 
lap.  Every  now  and  then  he  put 
up  his  little  hand  to  pat  her  cheek 
or  to  play  with  her  hair.  His 
bare  white  foot  was  nestled  in  her 
hand,  and  more  than  once  she 


86  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

leaned  over  and  kissed  it.  Aftei 
a  time  Susy  got  UD  and  came  and 
stood  by  them. 

"You  love  Robbie  dearly, 
don't  you  mamma  ?"  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  darling — dearly.  And  I 
love  my  little  Susy  just  as  well." 

"  You  wouldn't  like  to  kiss  my 
little  foot,"  said  Susy. 

"  I  used  to  kiss  it  when  it  was  a 
little  baby  foot,  and  wasn't  cover- 
ed up  with  a  shoe.  But  it  would 
be  rather  funny  for  me  to  take 


LITTLE    SERVANTS  87 

off  its  shoe  and  stocking  so  as  to 
kiss  it  when  there  is  this  nice,  round 
cheek,  all  handy." 

Susy  laughed;  and  kneeling 
down  she  took  Robbie's  foot  in 
her  hand,  kissed  it,  laid  it  on  her 
neck  and  cheek,  and  talked  to 
it  as  if  it  were  a  doll 

"  Some  body  said  Robbie's 
hands  were  whiter  than  mine/* 
said  she. 

"  That  is  nothing,"  said  her 
mamma.  "  The  question  is  not 


88  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

whether  Susy's  hands  are  white 
but  whether  they  do  all  they  can 
for  God." 

"  They  are  too  little  to  do  any 
thing  for  God."  said  Susy  in  a 
mournful  voice.  . 

"Why  no,  indeed,  Jesus  said 
that  whoever  gave  a  cup  of  cold 
water  in  his  name,  that  is,  for 
His  sake,  should  not  lose  his 
reward.  And  you  can  do  as 
much  as  that,  I  am  sure.  Besides 
that,  every  time  you  pick  up 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  89 

Robbie's  toys  for  him,  you  do 
something  for  God." 

Susy  looked  puzzled. 

"  If  you  can  t  understand  how 
this  can  be,  just  believe  it  because 
your  mamma  tells  you  so,  and 
by  and  by,  when  you  are  older, 
you  will  understand  it.  God  sees 
every  thing  you  do,  and  when  you 
leave  your  own  play,  and  run  to 
do  a  little  favor  for  Robbie,  or 
papa,  or  any  of  us,  then  He  is 
pleased.  When  I  was  kissing 


90  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Robbie's  feet  and  hands  just  now, 
[  was  praying  to  God  to  keep 
them  always  pure,  and  to  teach 
them  very  early,  to  work  for  Him. 
And  so  I  often  did  for  yours 
when  you  were  a  baby,  and  do 
now,  every  day." 

Susy  was  pleased  to  hear  this, 
and  she  tried  to  think  of  some- 
thing she  could  do.  Her  papa 
came  in  just  then,  feeling  very 
tired,  and  hoping  to  find  mamma  at 
leisure  to  rub  and  comb  his  head 


TITTLE   SERVANTS.  9i 

"  Isn't  Robbie  well  ?"  he  asked 

"  Not  very  well,"  said  his  mam- 
ma, "  and  I  am  trying  to  keep 
him  quiet,  hoping  he  may  fall 
asleep.  But  I  have  one  hand  to 
rub  your  head  with,  if  that  will 
do." 

"  Oh !  let  me  rub  papa's  head," 
said  Susy,  in  a  joyful  voice. 
"Lie  on  the  sofa,  papa,  and  I'll 
rub  it  I" 

So  papa  threw  himself  down, 
and  Susy  pushed  a  chair  up  to 


92  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

the  bureau,  and  climbed  up  for 
the  brush  and  comb,  and  though 
she  tangled  his  hair  and  pulled  it 
dreadfully,  papa  let  her  work  at 
his  poor  head,  till  Robbie  fell 
asleep,  and  mamma  could  come 
to  the  rescue.  Susy  felt  very 
happy,  and  she  whispered  to  her 
mamma : 

"  I  love  you,  dear  mamma,  and 
I  like  God,  too." 

She  felt  very  sweet  and  happy, 
and  looking  about  to  see  if  there 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  93 

were  any  thing  else  she  could  do, 
she  saw  a  fly  on  Robbie's  face. 
She  ran  quickly,  and  drove  it  away. 
"  Little  fly  !  do  you  think  you 
are  going  to  have  Robbie's  face 
for  your  dinner  ?"  said  she.  "  No, 
indeed !  I  shall  sit  here,  and 
drive  you  away.  And  you  can 
go  home  and  tell  your  mother 
there  is  a  great  big  giant  named 
Susy,  sitting  by  the  cradle,  and 
you  are  afraid  to  try  to  eat  Rob 
bie's  face." 


94  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

The  fly,  on  hearing  this,  flew 
away,  and  Susy  sat  so  still  that 
all  at  once  she  fell  over,  fast 
asleep.  Then  her  mamma  came 
softly  and  tucked  a  pillow  under 
her  head,  threw  a  cradle  quilt 
over  her,  and  left  her  to  enjoy  a 
sweet  sleep. 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  95 


CHAPTER  X. 

"BUT  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do." 

"SusY,  dear,  don't  you  feel 
well  ?"  asked  her  mamma,  seeing 
Susy  sitting  idly  on  the  carpet. 

"  Yes,  mamma,  I  feel  well,  but 
[  don't  know  what  to  do.  I 
wish  you  would  tell  me  what  to 
do." 

"  Well,  you  may  go  down  and 
shell  peas,"  said  her  mamma. 


98  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  I  don't  want  to  shell  peas/' 
said  Susy.  "  I  shelled  a  bushel, 
yesterday." 

u  Oh !  no,  not  a  bushel.  JSTot 
much  more  than  a  cup  full/'  said 
nurse, 

"Then  you  may  hold  a  skein 
of  silk  for  me  to  wind." 

"  I  don't  want  to  work,  I  want 
to  play/'  said  Susy. 

Her  mamma  was  called  down 
to  see  visitors,  and  Susy  remained 
sitting  on  the  floor,  in  not  very 
humor. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  97 

"  Oh  !  dear.  I  wish  I  had  some- 
thing to  do  I"  said  she.  "  I  won- 
der how  Robbie  would  do  for  a 
doll  ?  I  guess  I'll  try  and  see." 

So  she  crept  over  softly  to  the 
corner  where  Robbie  sat  playing 
with  his  blocks,  and  where  she 
was  out  of  nurse's  sight,  and 
began  to  unbutton  his  frock. 

By  and  by,  judging  by  the 
silence  that  something  wrong  was 
going  on,  nurse  got  up  and  went  to 
look.  There  lay  Robbie  with  his 


98  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

clothes  all  off,  while  Susy  was 
trying  to  squeeze  one  of  his  arms 
into  her  doll's  night-gown.  The 
patient  little  fellow  held  a  block 
fast  in  one  hand,  as  his  comforter 
under  his  sorrows,  for  he  really 
thought  he  had  done  something 
naughty  and  had  to  be  put  to 
bed. 

"Pretty  works,  I  do  think!" 
said  nurse.  "Just  let  me  call 
your  mamma  to  see  you,  that's 
all." 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  99 

Susy  jumped  up  and  caught 
ail  se  by  her  dress.  "You  shan't 
call  mamma  1"  said  she.  "  Rob- 
bie is  my  doll,  and  I'm  putting 
him  to  bed.  Aren't  you,  Rob- 
bie?" 

Nurse  only  answered  by  snatch- 
ing him  up  and  kissing  him. 

"  I  do  believe  he  would  let  you 
cut  his  head  off,  if  you  wanted 
to,"  said  she.  "  Susy  is  a  naughty 
girl,  and  her  mamma  will  whip 
her." 


100  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  Naughty  dirl,  mamma  s'ap  !" 
repeated  Robbie,  showing  with 
his  little  hands  how  mamma  would 
do. 

"  If  you  had  gone  down  like  a 
good  girl,  and  shelled  peas,"  said 
nurse,  "  you  wouldn't  have  got 
into  mischief.  Where  is  the  other 
stocking?  On  your  doll's  arm? 
Bring  it  to  me  this  minute.  And 
what  have  you  done  with  Rob- 
bie's shirt?  He  will  catch  his 
death  sitting  here  with  nothing 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  101 

on.     Well !    we'll    see  what    his 
rnamma  will  say  1" 

By  this  time  Susy  was  con 
vinced  she  had  done  something 
really  dreadful.  So  she  went 
softly  down  stairs  and  began  to 
shell  peas  as  fast  as  she  could. 
Her  little  thoughts  were  very 
busy. 

"  I  guess  mamma  won't  care. 
I  was  only  playing.  And  I  will 
shell  a  lot  of  peas.  I  wish  I 
knowed  where  I  put  Robbie's 


102  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

shirt.  I  guess  I  put  it  under  the 
bed.  But  if  he  doesn't  have  it 
on,  he'll  catch  cold."  The  busy 
fingers  stopped,  she  slipped  down 
from  her  chair,  and  away  went 
the  peas,  rolling  this  way  and  that, 
about  the  kitchen  floor. 

"  I  wish  you'd  stay  up  stairs, 
where  you  belong,"  said  Sarah. 
"  See  how  you've  wasted  the 
peas  !  If  I  were  your  mamma,  I 
would  not  give  you  any  for  you. 
dinner." 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  103 

"  I'll  pick  them  up,"  said  Susy 
"  And  mamma  said  I  might  shell 
them."  She  seemed  so  sorry  that 
Sarah  said  it  was  no  matter,  she 
guessed  six  peas  wouldn't  be 
much  loss.  So  Susy  went  back 
to  the  nursery  to  see  about  the 
missing  shirt. 

"  If  there  is'nt  Robbie's  shirt 
hanging  out  of  your  pocket!" 
said  nurse.  "  I  declare !  I  never 
saw  such  a  child.  Well !  you 
wait  till  your  mamma  hears  of 


104  UTTLE   SERVANTS. 

this  I"  As  she  spoke  in  an  angry 
voice,  Susy  saw  a  faint  smile  on 
the  corner  of  her  mouth,  that 
quite  cheered  her  disconsolate 
little  heart. 

"  I  didn't  mean  to  be  naughty," 
said  she.  "  I  did  not  know  what 
else  to  do.  And  I  never  will  do 
so  any  more  for  a  thousand  years. 
Won't  you  forgive  me  ?" 

"  Oh !  yes,  I'll  forgive  you. 
And  I'll  teach  you  a  hymn, 
besides,  about  idle  hands." 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  lOfl 

How  doth  the  little  busy  bee 

Improve  each  shining  hour; 
And  gather  honey  all  the  day, 

From  every  opening  flower  1 

How  skilfully  she  builds  her  cell, 

How  neat  she  spreads  the  wax  1 
And  labors  hard  to  store  it  well 

With  the  sweet  food  she  makes. 

In  works  of  labor  or  of  skill, . 

I  would  be  busy  too ; 
For  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still, 

For  idle  hands  to  do. 

In  books,  or  work,  or  healthful  play, 

Let  my  first  years  be  passed ; 
That  I  may  give  for  every  daf 

Some  good  account  at  last 


MfMrn 


FRONTISPIECE.  SUSY'S  SIX  SERVANTS.  2d  Series. 


LITTLE  SUSY'S  LITTLE  SERVANTS. 

SECOND  SERIES, 


LITTLE   SUSrS    LITTLE    SERVANTS. 


CHAPTEK  L 

"  I  WISH  I  knew  how  to  sew," 
!  !usy  one  day  said  to  her  nurse. 

"I  wish  so,  too,"  said  nurse. 
*  For  then  you  could  be  always 
making  aprons  and  things  for 
jour  babies.  And  in  time,  you 
could  make  a  shirt  for  your 
papa." 


4  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Susy  smiled  at  this  pleasaat 
prospect. 

"  I'll  go  and  ask  mamma  tc 
teach  me,"  said  she,  jumping  up. 
"  And  I'll  make  my  dollies  some 
frocks,  and  some  aprons,  and 
some  cloaks  and  bonnets.  And 
I'll  make  you  an  apron,  too,  Rob- 
bie." 

Robbie  looked  as  if  he  admir- 
ed Susy  very  much,  and  began 
to  think,  as  he  always  did  when 
pleased,  what  he  could  give  her. 


LITTLE    SERVANTS.  5 

In  the  mean  time  their  nurse 
had  cut  out  a  little  white  petti- 
coat, and  was  basting  it  very 
nicely  together. 

"Is  that  for  me?"  cried  Susy 
joyfully.  "  0  Nursey  I' 

And  Susy  sat  down,  took  the 
needle  in  her  eager  little  fingers, 
and  began  to  sew. 

"  Oh !  you  mustn't  put  the  nee- 
dle back  and  forth  that  way  I"  said 
nurse.  "  See  here,  the  point  of  the 
needle  should  come  towards  you." 


6  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  said  Susy,  and 
went  on  sewing  all  sorts  of  ways. 

"That  isn't  right,"  said  nurse. 
"When  you  learn  to  sew  you 
ought  to  learn  the  best  way." 

"This  is  the  best  way,"  said 
Susy. 

"Very  well.  If  you  know  so 
much,  there's  no  use  in  my  teach- 
ing you,"  said  nurse,  feeling  rather 
vexed. 

"  Oh  I  dear,  here's  an  old,  ugly 
old  knot  I"  said  Susy.  She  pull- 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  7 

ed  the  thread  angrily  and  it 
broke. 

"  Fix  it  for  ine,  will  you 
nurse  ?" 

Nurse  joined  the  thread  in 
silence.  Susy  took  one  more 
stitch  and  her  needle  unthreaded. 

"  I  can't  string  my  needle," 
said  she. 

"  You  must  learn/'  said  nurse. 
"  See,  this  way.  And  you  needn't 
talk  about  stringing  it,  as  if  il 
were  a  bead.  Ah  !  well.  I  may 


8  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

as  well  thread  it  this  time.  But 
my  !  what  stitches  !  Why,  dolly 
will  fall  through  between  them." 

"  I  guess  I  won't  learn  to  sew," 
said  Susy.  "  It's  hard.  Here's 
the  needle.  I'll  put  it  back  in 
your  cush  pinion  for  you." 

"  My  pin  cushion,  you  mean. 
But  I  should  be  ashamed  if  I 
were  you,  not  to  know  how  to 
sew.  There  was  little  Mary  Jones 
wheie  I  used  to  live ;  she  sewed 
like  a  woman.  Such  stitches ! 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  9 

But  then  there  are  few  c-hildren 
like  Mary  Jones." 

"  I  thought  you  said  she  was 
the  trial  of  your  life,"  said  Susy. 

"Well!  the  child's  memory!" 
said  nurse,  lifting  up  her  hands. 
"You  should  not  notice  every 
thing  I  say,  my  dear.  Now  I'll 
tell  you  something.  You  learn 
to  sew  and  you  shall  make  a  lit- 
tle bag  to  give  to  your  mamma. 
Just  such  a  bag  as  Mary  Jones 
made  for  her  mamma.  Only 


10  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

yours  shall  be  blue,  and  hers  was 
pink.  Come  !  that's  a  good  girl! 
Your  mamma  will  be  so  pleased  1" 

So  Susy  sat  down  again,  and 
took  a  few  more  stitches. 

"  The  needle  hurts  me  1"  said 
she. 

"  That's  because  you've  no 
thimble.  I'll  lend  you  my  silver 
thimble — the  one  your  aunt  gave 
me." 

So  nurse  wound  a  large  piece 
of  paper  round  and  round  Susy's 


LITTLE  SEKVAJSTTS.  11 

Hnger,  and  crowded  the  thimble 
over  the  whole.  It  looked  like  a 
helmet  on  a  dwarf. 

Susy  took  one  more  stitch,  and 
sighed. 

"I'm  tired,"  said  she.  "And 
the  thimble  is  so  heavy  I" 

"Well,  put  your  work  away 
then,"  said  nurse,  "  and  when  we 
go  out  I'll  buy  you  a  dear  little 
brass  thimble.  But  not  unless 
you'll  promise  to  be  patient,  and 
to  try  to  learn." 


12  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Susy  promised,  but  her  promise 
cost  her  many  tears.  For  her 
needle  unthreaded,  her  thread 
broke,  or  got  into  knots,  her 
hands  were  awkward  and  did  not 
know  how  to  behave,  and  then 
when  she  cried  on  her  work,  it 
made  it  hard  to  sew. 

But  every  day,  her  hands  grew 
more  skillful.  Finding  they  really 
must  learn  to  sew,  they  would  not 
lispute  about  such  a  trifle,  and 
you  can  not  think  how  delighted 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  13 

Susy  was  to  be  able,  one  day,  tc 
carry  her  mamma  the  nice  bag 
she  had  made  for  her 

"  Thank  you,  darling,"  said  her 
mamma.  "  I  am  very  glad  your 
little  hands  have  made  this  for  me, 
and  I  will  keep  it  a  great  while. 
Why,  when  your  aunt  Laura  was 
your  age,  she  had  made  a  whole 
quilt  of  bits  of  calico  not  much 
larger  than  the  palm  of  your  hand. 
The  next  thing  I  know,  I  suppose 


14  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

you  will  be  writing  me  a  little 
letter." 

"Oh!  I  never  could  learn  to 
write !"  said  Susy. 

"  Why  not  ?  Are  not  your 
hands  just  like  mine  ?  And  they 
learned  to  write." 

Susy  smiled,  and  looked  at  her 
mamma's  hands  and  then  at  her 
own,  but  did  not  have  time  to 
talk  any  more  just  then. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  15 


CHAPTER  n 

j 

FOR  just  at  this  moment  a  car- 
riage drove  up  to  the  door,  and 
Susy  ran  to  the  window  to  see 
who  had  come.  She  saw  two 
gentlemen  alight,  and  presently 
her  mamma  was  called  down. 

"  You  may  come  with  me, 
Susy,"  said  she. 

So  they  went  down  together, 
and  Susy  saw  that  one  of  the 


16  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

gentlemen  had  soft  white  hair 
flowing  down  to  his  shoulders. 
She  looked  at  his  mild,  kind  face 
with  great  interest,  and  when  he 
placed  his  hand  on  her  head,  and 
blessed  her,  she  felt  very  happy. 

"Mamma,  is  that  the  Apostle 
John?"  she  whispered. 

Her  mamma  smiled,  and  shook 
her  head,  and  Susy  sat  still,  and 
listened  to  what  was  said,  without 
speaking,  for  her  little  tongue  had 
learned  that  it  must  keep  still 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  17 

M  hen   older   persons  were   talk- 


ing. 


After  the  visitors  went  away, 
she  made  up  for  lost  time,  by 
asking  several  questions  all  in 
one  long  row. 

"  Who  was  that  man  ?  What 
makes  his  hair  so  white?  Did 
you  see  him  put  his  hand  on  my 
head  ?  I  liked  him  dearly." 

"  That  was  a  very  good  man," 
said  Ler  mamma,  "and  I  hope 
God  ^  ill  hear  the  prayer  he  made 


18  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

for  you  when  he  put  his  hand  on 
your  head." 

"  That's  the  way  Jesus  put  his 
hand  on  the  heads  of  little  child- 
ren/' said  Susy.  "  I  wish  I  had 
been  there." 

"  That  reminds  me  of  a  sweet 
little  hymn  that  I  copied  from  a 
book  Mrs.  Kay  lent  me.  I  must 
read  it  to  you  till  you  learn  it 
Come!  we'll  go  right  up  stairs, 
and  you  shall  hear  it." 

So  they  went  up  stairs,  and 


LITTLE   SERVAISPTS.  1« 

Susy  heard  for  the  first  time  that 
beautiful  hymn,  beginning : 

"  I  think  when  I  hear  that  sweet  story  of  old." 

Tears  came  into  her  eyes  as 
she  listened,  but  they  were  tears 
of  pleasure ;  she  soon  had  learn- 
ed the  first  verse,  and  they  sat 
singing  it  together  when  nurse 
came  in  with  Robbie,  who  had  a 
small  box  in  his  hand. 

"  Mrs.  Ray  has  sent  Susy  a  box 
of  beads,"  said  she,  "  and  says  she 


20  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

must  string  them  when  she  does 
not  know  what  else  to  do." 

Susy  was  delighted  to  hear  this, 
and  she  flew  off  to  find  a  needle 
and  thread,  so  as  to  begin  at  once 
to  string  her  beads.  It  was,  how- 
ever, time  for  their  supper,  and 
she  had  to  wait 

She  was  too  happy  to  eat  much, 
and  as  soon  as  she  could,  she 
hastened  to  the  window,  and  seat- 
ed herself  to  begin  her  pleasant 
work.  She  had  hardly  strung  a 


LITTLE  SERVANTS  21 

dozen  beads  when  looking  down, 
she  saw  that  they  had  all  fallen 
from  the  string. 

"  Oh  !  dear !  that's  because  I 
didn't  make  a  knot.  Oh  !  how  I 
wish  I  knew  how  to  make  knots  1 
Nursey  !  won't  you  make  a  knot  ?" 

"  It's  too  dark  to  string  beads," 
said  nurse.  "  You'll  hurt  your 
eyes,  Susy.  Come !  put  away 
your  beads,  and  go  to  bed." 

"  It  doesn't  hurt  my  eyes,"  said 
Susy.  "  I  can  see  just  as  easy." 


22  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

All  of  a  sudden  she  felt  two 
hands  over  her  eyes. 

u  0  papa !  is  that  you ! 
Please  don't!  I  want  to  string 
my  beads.  See,  papa !  all  these 
beads.  Mrs.  Ray  sent  them." 

"Mrs.  Ray  was  very  kind," 
said  her  papa.  "  But  my  little 
Susy  is  not  kind  at  all.  She  has 
been  abusing  two  of  those  ser- 
vants that  God  gave  her.  Don't 
you  know  it  is  wrong  to  treat 
your  eyes  so  ?" 


UTTLE  SERVANTS.  23 

"I  guess  they  didn't  care," 
said  Susy. 

"  I  guess  they  did,"  said  her 
papa.  "  And  you  must  remember 
that  eyes  are  very  precious  things, 
and  be  careful  of  them.  If  I 
should  give  you  a  little  white- 
handled  penknife — " 

"  0  papa  !  I  wish  you  would  !" 

"  If  I  gave  you  one,  would  it 
be  right  for  you  to  cut  off  one  of 
your  little  fingers  with  it  ?" 

"  Why,  no,  papa  1" 


f4  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  And  is  it  right  to  injure  the 
eyes  God  has  been  so  very  kind 
as  to  give  you  ?" 

"  No,  papa.  And  I  won't, 
again." 

"  But  what  are  they  looking  so 
hard  at  my  pocket,  for?"  asked 
her  papa,  smiling. 

"  Why,  I  thought  perhaps  there 
was  a  little  knife  there,"  said 
Susy,  rather  doubtfully. 

"  A.nd    so    there   is.     It   was 
me  to-day,  and  1  will  give 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  25 

it  to  you.  Only  you  must  pro- 
mise not  to  open  it.  For  you  are 
such  a  little  girl  that  I  do  not 
dare  to  let  you  use  it  yet." 

Susy  promised,  and  her  papa 
took  her  on  one  shoulder  and 
Robbie  on  the  other,  and  "  rided" 
them  as  Robbie  called  it,  three 
times  across  the  room,  and  then 
they  kissed  each  other  good  night, 
and  Susy  and  her  box  of  beads 
and  her  little  knife  all  went  to 
bed  together. 


26  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER  m. 

ABOUT  this  time  a  lady  came 
to  visit  Susy's  mamma,  bringing 
with  her  a  little  boy. 

His  name  was  Thomas.  He 
was  several  years  older  than  Susy, 
but  as  there  was  no  one  else  for 
him  to  play  with,  he  had  to 
amuse  himself  with  her  as  well  as 
he  could.  Susy  followed  him 
about,  wherever  he  went,  and 


LITTLE   SEKVANTS.  27 

thought  every  thing  he  did  very 
amusing,  and  that  every  thing  he 
said  must  be  right. 

One  afternoon  as  they  were 
playing  together  in  his  mamma's 
room,  Thomas  asked  Susy  if  she 
liked  candy. 

"Yes,  I  like  it,"  said  Susy. 
u  But  mamma  does  not  let  me  eat 
it  very  often." 

"  My  mother  lets  me  eat  as 
much  as  I  please,"  said  Thomas, 
14  There  is  a  great  bundle  of  it  in 


8  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

her  trunk,  and  she  lets  me  go 
and  get  some,  as  often  as  I  want 
it.  I'll  give  you  some  if  you  will 
hold  open  the  trunk  for  me." 

Susy  did  not  know  that  Thomas 
had  been  forbidden  to  open  this 
trunk.  So  she  stood  holding  the 
cover  open,  while  he  searched  for 
the  candy.  But  it  was  heavy,  and 
her  little  hands  were  not  strong 
enough  to  hold  it  long. 

"Make  haste,  Thomas,"  said 
she,  "  or  I  shall  let  it  fall." 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  2S 

"  I  am  making  haste,"  said 
Thomas.  "  And  don't  you  go  and 
let  it  fall ;  you'll  break  my  head 
in  two,  if  you  do." 

Susy  tried  with  all  her  strength 
to  hold  up  the  heavy  lid,  but 
Thomas  kept  her  waiting  too  long, 
and  all  at  once  down  it  came. 
Thomas  tried  to  draw  back  his 
head,  but  the  trunk-cover  was 
too  quick  for  him,  and  gave  him 
a  blow  right  across  his  face  and 
eyes. 


80  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

As  soon  as  he  knew  enough  to 
speak,  he  called  Susy  all  sorts  of 
bad  names,  and  struck  her  several 
times.  Susy  was  so  frightened 
and  astonished,  that  at  first  she 
was  quite  silent,  but  after  a 
moment  she  began  to  cry  so 
loudly  that  every  body  came  run- 
ning in  to  see  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. 

By  this  time  Thomas's  forehead 
and  face  looked  quite  bruised  and 
swollen,  and  the  moment  his 


LITTLE  SEftVANTb.  31 

mamma  saw  it  she  flew  to  kiss 
him,  and  then  turned  to  Susy, 
and  said  in  a  angry  tone : 

*'  What  did  you  strike  him  for, 
you  naughty  child  ?" 

"I  didn't  strike  him/7  said 
Susy;  t£I  didn't  mean  to  hurt 
him ;  I  could  not  hold  up  the 
cover,  it  was  so  heavy." 

"What  cover?"  asked  her 
mamma. 

"The  trunk-cover,"  said  Susy 

"Oh!    so   you    were    at    my 


32  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

trunk,  were  you  ?"  said  the  lady. 
1  And  who  said  you  might  do 
that  ?" 

"Thomas  told  me  to  hold  it 
open  while  he  got  the  candy." 

"Oh!  what  a  story!"  said 
Thomas.  "  She  went  and  opened 
the  trunk  and  was  going  to  look 
for  candy,  and  I  went  to  make 
her  come  away,  and  she  struck 
ine  with  a  great  big  stick." 

"Is  that  true,  Susy?"  asked 
her  mamma  in  a  grave,  sad  voice. 


LITTLE  SEK^ANTS.  33 

For  the  mere  thought  that  Susy 
could  do  such  a  thing,  made  her 
heart  ache. 

Before  Susy  had  time  to  answer, 
the  lady  cried  out: 

"  Of  course,  it  is  true.  Don't 
you  see  the  dreadful  marks  on  his 
face  ?" 

"  Answer,  Susy,  is  it  true  ?" 
repeated  her  mamma. 

Susy  tried  to  tell  the  whole 
story,  just  as  it  happened,  but 
seeing  her  mamma  look  so  sad. 


34  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

and  every  body  else  believing 
Thomas,  she  could  only  cry  still 
harder. 

Then  her  mamma  took  her 
away  to  her  own  room,  and  wiped 
away  her  tears,  and  said: 

u  Now  tell  me,  my  dear  Susy, 
all  about  it.  I  can  not  think  my 
precious  child  has  done  this  sinful 
thing.  But  don't  be  afraid  to  tell 
me  the  whole  truth.  Remember 
God  hears  every  word  you  say 


LITTLE   SERVAOTS.  35 

Remember,  my  darling  !  Think 
before  you  speak." 

"  Mamma,  I  telled  the  truth  I" 
said  Susy.  "  I  telled  the  truth. 
Thomas  said  he  would  get  some 
candy  for  me  if  I  would  hold  up 
the  cover.  And  I  tried  to  hold 
it,  and  I  couldn't.  And  won't 
you  believe  me  ?  0  mamma ! 
won't  you  believe  me  ?" 

Then  Susy's  mamma  said  in  her 
heart,  to  God  • 

"  0  God  !     teach  me  what  to 


36  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

believe.  Do  not  let  me  make  a 
mistake.  And  oh !  do  not  let 
my  little  Susy  ever  speak  a  word 
that  is  not  true." 

And  after  she  had  said  that, 
there  came  into,  her  mind  a  way 
by  which  she  could  find  out 
whether  Thomas  had  spoken  the 
truth. 

She  went  right  back  to  the 
lady's  room,  whom  she  found 
holding  Thomas  in  her  lap,  and 
feeding  with  candy. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  37 

"  Thomas,  where  is  the  stick 
you  said  Susy  struck  you  with  T 
asked  she. 

Thomas  blushed  and  looked 
about,  as  if  in  search  of  the 
stick. 

"I  suppose  she  hid  it,  some- 
where," said  he. 

"  She  could  not  do  that,  for  she 
has  been  with  me  ever  since  she 
left  the  room." 

"  I  dare  say  we  shall  find  it,' 
said  the  lady.  "  And  I  hope 


38  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

you  mean  to  give  Susy  a  good 
whipping.  She  needs  it,  I  am 
sure.  Such  a  blow  1  Why, 
what  a  naughty  child  she  must 
be!"  ;  :  •-  — -  ' 

"  Susy  says  Thomas  opened 
the  trunk  and  told  her  to  hold  it 
open  while  he  looked  for  candy. 
And  it  was  heavy,  and  she  let 
it  fall  on  his  head.  I  think 
bhe  has  spoken  the  truth.  I 
never  knew  her  to  speak  any 
thing  else.  The  marks  on 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  39 

Thomas's  face  look  to  me,  just 
like  those  the  heavy  lid  of  a  trunk 
would  make." 

"  They  look  to  me  like  the 
marks  of  a  stick,"  said  the  lady. 
"  But  people  see  things  differently. 
Come,  Thomas !  eat  this  nice 
candy.  And  I'll  buy  you  some- 
thing to  pay  for  this." 

Susy's  mamma  said  no  more. 
She  felt  sorry  to  have  her  deai 
little  daughter  in  such  trouble 
but  there  seemed  no  help  for  it 


40  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

She  went  back  to  her  room  ;  and 
taking  Susy  again  in  her  lap, 
talked  gently  to  her  about  the 
dreadful  sin  of  which  Thomas  had 
been  guilty. 

"I  never  will  tell  a  naughty 
story,"  said  Susy. 

"  Don't  say  you  never  will. 
You  may  be  tempted,  some  time, 
more  than  you  ever  have  been. 
But  ask  God,  who  is  the  God 
of  truth,  to  keep  you  from  doing 
it.  How  thankful  you  ought  to 


LITTLE    SEKVANTS.  41 

be  that  you  have  been  taught  to 
pray!  For  the  Bible  says  that 
no  man  can  tame  the  tongue. 
That  is,  no  one  can,  of  himself, 
keep  from  saying  what  he  ought 
not  to  say.  And  his  only  way  is 
to  keep  praying  to  God  to  bridle 
his  tongue  for  him." 

"  My  tongue  isn't  a  good  little 
servant,  then,"  said  Susy. 

"  God  can  make  it  good,  and 
teach  it  to  bless  and  praise 
Him." 


42  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

Then  Susy's  mamma  took  down 
her  Bible  and  read  several  verses 
from  it. 

"Keep  thy  tongue  from  evil, 
and  thy  lips  from  speaking  guile." 

"  The  tongue  of  the  just  is  as 
choice  silver." 

"Whose  keepeth  his  tongue, 
keepeth  his  soul  from  troubles." 

11  He  that  telleth  lies  shall  not 
tany  in  My  sight." 

"  As  soon  as  you  learn  to  writeT 
my  dear  Susy,  I  will  make  a  little 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  4S 

book  in  which  you  can  write  all 
that  the  Bible  says  about  this 
You  will  be  astonished  to  find 
how  much  there  is  about  speak- 
ing the  truth,  speaking  kindly, 
and  speaking  wisely.  And  of 
our  dear  Saviour  it  says  that  when 
his  enemies  reviled  him,  "  as 
a  lamb  before  her  shearers  is 
dumb,  so  he  opened  not  His 
mouth."  Now  the  next  time  you 
see  Thomas,  I  think  it  likely  he 
say  a  good  many  things  to 


44  LITTIJS  S 

vex  you,  and  I  want  you  to  re- 
member, when  he  does  so,  how 
Jesus  did,  and  what  you  should 
do." 

"Mayn't  I  tell  him  he  is  a 
naughty  boy  ?"  asked  Susy. 
u  Mayn't  I  tell  him  he  has  telled 
a  lie  ?" 

"  Would  Jesus  love  you  when 
you  were  doing  so,  my  dear 
Susy  ?  No,  be  careful  not  to  say 
one  word  that  you  would  not  likt 
Jesus  to  hear.  And  pray  for  that 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  45 

poor  boy  that  God  would  pity 
him  for  being  so  naughty,  and 
forgive  him,  and  help  him  to 
grow  good." 


46  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EARLY  the  next  morning 
Thomas's  mamma  began  to  pack 
her  trunks  in  order  to  go  away, 
for  she  felt  quite  vexed  with 
Susy,  and  with  her  mamma. 
While  she  was  busy  in  this  way, 
Thomas  was  quite  as  busy  in  eat- 
ing some  dainties  that  she  had 
placed  on  the  floor  while  she 
made  room  for  them  in  the  trunk. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS  47 

Thomas  knew  they  were  to  be 
carried  to  his  aunt,  who  was 
sick. 

By  and  by  his  mother  turned 
round,  and  seeing  him  eating,  she 
said  to  him  : 

"  Thomas !  what  are  you  about  ? 
I  hope  you  have  not  touched  any 
of  those  things  I  got  for  your 
aunt  ?  Let  me  see,  one,  two, 
three ;  there  ought  to  be  four 
boxes  of  jelly.  Come  here  and 
let  me  look  at  your  hands.  Come 


48  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

this   minute,  you  naughty  boy, 
you." 

"I  did'nt  eat  a  bit,"  said 
Thomas,  "I  only  just  made  a 
little  hole  in  one  side,  and  ate 
what  came  out  on  a  pin." 

"  Where  is  the  box  ?" 

"  I  don't  know.  There  were 
only  three  boxes." 

"  Yes  there  were  four  boxes. 
And  you've  eaten  one  of  them. 
I  never  saw  such  a  boy  !  Well,  I 
shall  not  buy  you  the  present  I 


LTTILE  SERVANTS.  49 

promised  you  yesterday.  To 
think  of  your  eating  your  aunt's 
jelly  I" 

"  I  didn't  eat  it,"  said  Thomas, 
in  a  sulky  voice. 

"  Tour  face  is  all  covered  with 
it,  so  don't  let  me  hear  another 
word.  I  begin  now  to  think  you 
told  me  a  story,  yesterday.  Come 
here!" 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?" 
cried  Thomas  trying  to  get  away 

"  I'm  going  to  see  if  the  lid  of 

4 


50  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

my  trunk  fits  to  that  mark  on 
your  face,"  said  his  mother.  "  And 
if  it  does,  I  shall  believe  Susy 
spoke  the  truth  after  all." 

u  I  said  she  let  the  lid  fall  on 
me,"  said  Thomas. 

"  You  said  no  such  thing. 
You  said  she  struck  you  with  a 
stick." 

"I  didn't,"  said  Thomas. 

"  What  a  wicked,  wicked  boy 
you  arel"  cried  his  mother.  "I 
see  just  what  you  are.  If  there 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  51 

is  such  a  thing  as  a  rod  in  this 
house,  I'll  whip  you  with  it  til 
you  are  ashamed  of  yourself. 
What  do  you  suppose  Susy's 
mother  thought  of  me  yesterday, 
when  I  took  your  part  ?  I  only 
wish  your  father  was  here.  But 
I'll  whip  you,  you  see  if  I  don't." 
On  hearing  this,  Thomas  ran 
to  get  away;  his  mother  ran 
after  him,  and  seeing  a  door  half 
open,  Thomas  hoped  to  escape  by 
that  means.  For  this  door  led 


52  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

to  a  dark,  low  closet  under  the 
stairs,  in  which  a  grown  person 
could  not  stand  upright. 

The  moment  Thomas  crept  in 
his  mother  shut  and  locked  the 
door. 

"  There  !  now  I've  got  you  1" 
she  cried,  "  and  there  you  shall 
stay  on  bread  and  water,  the 
whole  day  1" 

Thomas  kicked  against  the 
door,  and  cried,  and  begged  to 
come  out,  but  in  vain. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  53 

His  mother  was  as  severe  on 
one  day  as  she  was  fond  on 
another.  She  kept  him  shut  up 
till  nearly  night,  when  she  took 
him  out  all  covered  with  cobwebs, 
gave  him  a  good  shaking,  and 
told  him  to  ask  Susy's  pardon  for 
telling  a  story  about  her. 

That  night  when  Susy  was 
going  to  bed,  she  said  to  her 
mamma  : 

"  Thomas  and  his  mother  fight 
ed    together    to-day,    and     she 


54  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

couldn't  whip  him  he  ran  away 


so." 


"  How  came  you  to  know  that, 
Susy  ?" 

"  The  door  was  open,  and  I  was 
going  by,  and  I  heard  a  noise, 
and  so  I  stopped." 

"  That  was  not  right,  my  darl- 
ing. You  must  teach  your  little 
eyes  not  to  look  at  things  they 
ought  not  to  see.  Didn't  you 
feel,  all  the  time,  that  it  was  not 
quite  proper  for  you  to  stop  and 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  56 

watch  in  that  way?  Always 
make  it  a  rule  never  to  look  at 
any  thing,  no  matter  what,  if  you 
have  even  a  little  bit  of  a  feeling 
that  you  ought  not.  Your  eyes 
are  your  own,  and  you  must  teach 
them." 

"  I  will,  mamma,"  said  Susy. 
"And  I  am  glad  I've  got  you  for 
a  mamma.  I'm  glad  Thomas's 
mamma  isn't  mine.  She  didn't 
pray  to  God  to  make  him  good  ; 
she  fighted  with  him." 


66  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER  V. 

ABOUT  this  time  Susy  began  to 
learn  to  read.  At  first,  though 
she  wanted  to  be  able  to  read, 
she  did  not  like  the  trouble,  and 
would  make  all  sorts  of  excuses 
when  her  mamma  called  her  to 
come  to  her  lesson.  Sometimes 
she  said  she  was  too  tired.  Some- 
times she  said  Robbie  couldn't 
spare  her. 


LITTLE   SERVANTS  5 

Once  she  said  her  eyes  ached, 
and  when  her  mamma  still  would 
have  her  read,  she  wanted  some 
body  to  come  and  hold  her  book 
for  her  because  it  was  so  heavy  ! 
But  she  was  learning  to  read,  very 
fast,  and  also  to  make  letters  on 
her  slate,  like  those  in  the  book. 
She  was  very  happy  indeed  when 
one  day,  after  working  quite  hard, 
she  was  able  to  send  her  papa  a 
little  letter  that  she  had  printed 
with  a  pen.  All  the  letter  had  in 


58  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

it,  was  this,  "  I  love  you,  dear 
papa!"  but  it  gave  him  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure,  and  I  dare  say 
he  has  put  it  away  among  his 
treasures,  and  will  keep  it  as  long 
as  he  lives. 

If  you  want  to  please  your 
papa,  you  might  print  such  a  let- 
ter, for  him.  It  might  tire  your 
little  hands,  but  you  would  not 
mind  that,  if  papa  should  kiss 
you,  and  say  you  had  sent  him  a 
sweet  little  letter;  you  would 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  59 

only  be  thankful  you  had  two 
hands  with  which  to  do  something 
to  gratify  him. 

Susy's  mamma  was  sick,  in  bea, 
soon  after  this,  and  I  could  not 
begin  to  tell  you  how  useful  this 
dear  child  now  found  every  one 
of  her  little  servants.  Before 
this,  when  she  went  to  bed,  she 
used  to  leave  her  clothes  on  the 
floor,  for  some  body  to  pick  up. 
But  now  she  folded  them  neatly 
and  put  them  by  the  side  of  her 


60  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

bed,  so  as  to  dress  herself  in  the 
morning.  She  tried  to  be  as  still 
as  a  mouse,  when  in  her  mamma's 
room,  and  no  matter  in  how  low 
and  feeble  a  voice  she  was  asked 
to  get  something  that  was  wanted 
she  always  heard,  and  always 
went  quickly  and  without  noise. 
Sometimes,  with  her  little  soft 
hands,  she  patted  her  mamma's 
cheek  till  she  fell  asleep.  Some- 
times she  sang  hymns.  Some- 
times she  would  try  to  comfort 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  61 

her  mamma  by  saying :  "  I  guess 
you  will  get  better  by  and  by !' 
or,  "  If  you  do  not  get  well,  dear 
mamma  I  p'omise  you  I  will  take 
care  of  poor  papa,  and  never  will 
let  him  go  anywhere  alone."  She 
learned  to  give  the  medicine,  and 
to  shake  up  the  pillows,  and  to  do 
a  great  many  other  kind  and  lov- 
ing things,  even  though  she  was 
yet  so  small  that  she  had  to  climb 
into  a  chair  to  reach  every  thing 
from  the  shelf  or  the  bureau. 


52  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

And  don't  you  suppose  her  mam- 
ma, lying  now  so  helpless  on  her 
bed,  felt  paid  for  all  she  had  done 
for  little  Susy  ?  For  all  the  time 
she  had  kept  her  awake,  all  the 
fatigue,  all  the  trouble  ?  Yes, 
indeed !  And  have  you  ever 
paid  your  mamma  for  all  she  did 
for  you  when  you  lay,  a  weak, 
helpless  baby,  with  hands  that 
couldn't  hold  any  thing,  and  feet 
that  couldn't  walk,  and  a  tongue 
that  couldn't  speak  ?  If  not,  why, 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  6S 

begin  now.  Pat  your  mamma's 
face  with  the  little  hand  she  has 
taught  so  much ;  tell  her  you 
love  her,  with  that  tongue  whose 
first  word  it  learned  from  her 
lips ;  run  for  her  on  those  little 
feet  she  has  so  long  kept  out  of 
danger.  If  she  has  the  baby  in 
her  arms,  and  is  going  to  carry  it 
about  the  room  looking  for  what 
she  wants,  ask  her  to  sit  down 
and  let  you  find  it,  for  her.  Let 
your  little  servants  know  that  you 


64  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

shan't  think  much  of  them  if 
they  do  not  wait  upon  or  in  some 
way  be  useful  to  your  mamma, 
your  papa,  your  brother,  your 
sister,  and  they  shall  not  lose 
their  reward! 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  65 


CHAPTER  VL 

"  How  many  miles  a  day  do 
you  walk?"  Nurse  asked  Rob- 
bie. "  Do  you  know  ?" 

Robbie  smiled,  and  stood  still 
for  a  minute,  to  think,  but  soon 
ran  away  again. 

'  How  many  miles  do  you 
suppose  he  walks,  Nursy  ?"  ask- 
ed Susy. 

"  I  don't  know.     I  wish  I  knew. 


A6  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

And  I  wish  I  knew  how  ma  y 
miles  my  hand  travels  in  a 
week." 

"  Tour  hand !  TVhy,  just  as 
many  as  your  feet,"  said  Susy. 

"No  such  thing.  See  h^re 
now,  look  at  me  while  I  sew. 
Don't  you  see  how  my  hand  goes 
back  and  forth  with  every  stitch  ? 
And  when  I  make  beds,  and 
sweep  and  dust,  and  wash  you 
children  and  dress  you,  and  brush 
your  hair,  and  pick  up  your  toys 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  67 

— dear  me  !  it's  a  wonder  they're 
not  used  up,  long  ago  1" 

Susy  laughed,  and  felt  quite 
interested. 

"Who  told  you  any  thing 
about  that  ?"  she  asked. 

"  Nobody/'  said  nurse.  "  Don't 
you  suppose  I  ever  have  any 
thoughts  of  my  own  ?  However, 
I  did  see  something  in  the  paper 
about  how  far  a  printer's  hand 
could  travel  in  one  day,  and  that 
set  me  to  thinking  about  mine." 


6b  LITTLE  SUSTS 

When  Susy  went  to  her  mam- 
ma she  told  her  what  she  and 
nurse  had  been  talking  about. 

"  I  suspect  your  eyes  are  the 
greatest  travellers  you  know  much 
about,"  said  her  mamma.  "  Think 
how  far  they  can  go ;  and  how 
many  times  they  move  from  one 
end  of  the  page  to  the  other, 
when  you  read." 

"  I  wish  I  knew  how  far,"  said 
Susy.  "If  Charlie  ever  comes 
here  I  mean  to  ask  him  to  mea- 


LITTLE  SEKVAN1S.  61 

sure  one  of  my  books.  He  has 
got  such  a  nice  little  carpenter's 
rule  to  measure  with  !" 

Perhaps  the  children  who  read 
this  book  would  like  to  know  how 
far  the  hand  that  printed  had  to 
travel  to  do  it.  To  be  sure,  it 
was  not  all  done  by  a  single  hand ; 
but  one  of  the  printers  has  been 
kind  enough  to  find  out  how 
many  miles  the  hand  moved 
when  they  set  up  the  types,  and 
behold  it  was  nearly  230  !  Add 


70  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

to  this  the  journeys  my  hand  has 
had  to  make  back  and  forth,  to 
and  fro,  over  the  paper,  off  to  the 
inkstand  and  back  again,  and 
you  will  see  that  even  our  little 
book  costs  a  good  deal  of  labor, 
and  keeps  a  good  many  hands 
from  being  idle  and  so  getting 
into  mischief.  ' 

While  Susy  and  her  mamma 
were  talking  together,  they  heard 
a  little  knock  at  the  door,  and  on 
opening  it,  they  saw  Robbie 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  71 

standing  outside  with  a  long 
piece  of  twine  in  his  hand. 

"What  does  Robbie  want?" 
asked  his  mamma. 

"  I  want  you  to  mezzer  how 
many  miles  long  my  foots  are," 
said  Robbie. 

Susy  and  mamma  laughed,  and 
Robbie  climbed  up  on  the  bed 
where  his  mamma  still  lay, 
though  she  was  now  getting 
well. 

"  Instead  of  that  I  will  teach 


72  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

you   a  verse  to  say  to  papa  at 
breakfast : 

'Thou  hast  delivered  my  eyes  from  tears,  my  feet  from 
felling  and  my  soul  from  death.'  " 

Robbie  learned  his  verse  very 
quickly,  and  Susy  wanted  now  to 
learn  hers.  Her  mamma  gave 
her  an  easy  one  : 

"  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  a  light  unto  my  path  ;* 

and  Susy  learned  it  so  easily  that 
she  asked  for  another. 

"  I  did  not  know  there  was  any 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  73 

thing  in  the  Bible  about  feet," 
said  she.  "Is  there  any  thing 
about  hands  ?" 

"  Yes,  indeed.  Don't  you  re- 
member the  story  of  the  man  with 
the  withered  hand  that  he  could 
not  use  ?  Jesus  must  have  pitied 
him  because  he  had  but  one  well 
hand,  or  he  would  not  have  heal- 
ed hi/n.  In  a  few  days  I  hope  I 
shall  be  strong  enough  to  have 
you  come  and  read  to  me,  and  I 
will  make  a  list  of  verses  for  you 


74  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

For  I  want  you  to  see  that  though 
your  hands  and  feet  and  eyes  and 
ears  and  tongue  now  seem  small 
things,  such  as  God  would  be 
likely  to  overlook,  He  has  made 
them  to  do  great  things  and  use- 
ful and  kind  ones." 


LITTLE    SERVANTS.  75 


CHAPTER 

SUSY  and  Robbie  were  stand- 
ing at  the  window  a  few  days 
after  this,  watching  some  boys 
who  were  playing  in  the  snow. 

"  I  wish  we  could  go  out  and 
throw  snow  at  each  other,"  said 
•Susy.  "  Can  we,  Nursy  ?" 

"  No,  not  to-day,"  said  nurse  ; 
{ for  your  hands  would  freeze  for 
want  of  mittens.  I  am  hurrying 


76  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

as  fast  as  I  can,  to  get  some  done 
but  I  don't  know ;  time  flies  in 
this  house." 

"  Where  does  it  fly  to  ?"  asked 
Robbie. 

Before  nurse  had  time  to 
answer,  the  children  were  sent 
for  by  their  mamma.  They  jump- 
ed down  from  the  window,  and 
ran  to  see  what  was  wanted. 

"  Grandmamma  has  sent  a  bas- 
ket full  of  things,  and  I  thought 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  77 

you  would  like  to  take  them  out 
for  me,"  said  their  mamma. 

"Oh!  yes,"  said  Susy,  "we'll 
take  turns.  Robbie  shall  take 
out  the  first  thing  and  I'll  take 
out  the  next." 

So  Robbie  put  in  his  hand,  and 
pulled  out,  with  great  labor,  a  jar 
of  currant  jelly. 

"  That's  for  mamma,"  said  Susy. 
"  Grandma  always  sends  jelly  to 
her."  She  put  in  her  hand  and 
took  out  a  small  bundle  that  had 


78  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

«  Robbie"  printed  on  it  in  large 
letters.  On  opening  it,  out  rolled 
a  pair  of  nice  warm  mittens,  which 
were  marked :  "  For  the  little 
hands  that  so  often,  and  so  cheer- 
fully, picked  up  grandma's  ball." 
Susy  blushed  and  the  tears 
came  into  her  eyes.  She  knew 
the  reason  there  were  no  mittens 
for  her.  She  had  often  looked 
displeased  when  grandma's  ball 
had  rolled  under  the  table  when 
she  was  busy,  reading  or  playing. 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  U 

Robbie  ran  and  threw  his  arms 
round  her  neck. 

"  Naughty  drandma  I"  said  ho 

"  Oh  !  no,  "kind  grandmamma, 
to  try  to  make  my  little  Susy 
good/'  said  their  mamma. 

"  Susy  shall  have  one  mitten 
and  I'll  teep  one,"  said  Robbie. 

"  No,  Susy  must  wait  till  nurse 
gets  hers  done.  But  I  am  sure 
dear  grandmamma  has  sent  some- 
thing for  her.  Try  again,  my 
darling." 


80  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

And  this  time  there  came  out 
six  pairs  of  warm  white  stockings ; 
three  for  Susy  and  three  for  Rob- 
bie, and  on  the  bundle  was  written : 
"  Grandmamma  has  not  forgot- 
ten how  many  times  those  little 
feet  went  up  and  down  stairs  for 
her  when  she  made  her  last  visit ; 
and  so  she  has  knit  these  warm 
stockings  for  them." 

"  There's  something  else  in  the 
basket,"  said  Susy.  "  Why  !  it's 
a  cart,  and  it's  horses,  and  it's  bar- 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  81 

rels !  0  Robbie !  Help  me  get 
them  out !" 

Laughing  and  pulling,  and 
trembling  over,  they  at  last  got 
the  cart  and  horses  out  of  the 
basket,  and  a  very  nice  toy  it 
was. 

"I  suppose  it's  for  Robbie," 
said  Susy. 

"Aunt  Maria  sent  it  to  him," 
said  her  mamma.  "  Don't  you  re- 
member she  promised  she  would?" 

"  Oh  !  she  promised  me  a  work- 


8S  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

basket  F  cried  Susy,  "  let  me  see 
yes !    here    it    is !     0    mamma 
There's   a  thimble   and   scissors, 
and    needle !    Now   I  can    sew 
with  my  own  things.    Look,  Rob- 
bie." 

But  Robbie  was  too  busy. 
One  of  his  barrels  had  broken 
open,  and  a  host  of  sugar-plums 
had  rolled  out  all  over  the  floor. 

"0  Robbie!  give  me  some 
sugar-plums,  will  you  ?"  cried 
Susy. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS  83 

*  ll  is  torn"  said  Robbie, 
( Big  men  don't  load  up  with 
sugar-pums." 

"  It  isn't  corn/'  said  Susy. 

"  Yes,  it  is  torn.  And  little 
dirls  don't  eat  torn." 

"  Little  chickens  eat  it,  at  any 
rate,  and  I'm  a  little  chicken,  and 
['m  hungry,  too,"  said  Susy. 

"  Well,"  said  Robbie,  "  if  you 
are  a  little  chiten,  I'll  feed  you,"- 
BO  he  scattered  the  sugar-plums 


84  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

on  the  floor  and  Susy  ate  them 
as  fast  as  she  could. 

"  Leave  him  some,"  said  their 
mamma.  "  Don't  eat  them  all, 
Susy." 

Susy  jumped  up  and  began  to 
take  the  rest  of  the  things  from 
the  basket.  There  were  stockings 
for  papa  and  an  apron  for  nurse, 
and  for  mamma  a  little  roasted 
chicken,  which  grandma  had  been 
so  kind  as  to  have  cooked  for 
her. 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  85 

"I  do  believe  I  could  eat  a 
piece  of  that  chicken,"  said  she 
when  Susy  held  it  up  on  its  little 
white  dish.  "Grandma's  things 
always  taste  so  good." 

"Oh!  then  you'll  get  well  I" 
cried  Susy  joyfully. 


86  LITTLE  SLSTS 


CHAPTER  VIH 

THE  little  chicken,  or  some- 
thing, did  Susy's  mamma  so  much 
good,  that  the  next  day  she  was 
able  to  sit  up  an  hour ;  and  she 
felt  able  to  look  over  her  Bible 
for  the  verses  that  she  had 
promised  to  find  for  Susy. 

Susy  enjoyed  reading  them, 
very  much. 

"  Why,     mamma,     there     art 


Page  86. 


S    SY'S  SIX  SERVANTS.  ad  Serie 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  87 

enough  to  fill  a  book !"  said  she 
"  We  would  put  in  the  story  of 
the  man  who  had  the  withered 
hand,  and  then  all  about  blind 
Bartimeus,  and  the  man  who  wag 
blind  and  dumb  that  Jesus  made 
to  see  and  speak.  And  then 
there's  a  story  of  a  man  who  was 
laid  at  the  Beautiful  gate  of  the 
temple,  who  could  not  walk  a 
step,  and  he  was  cured  so  that  he 
walked  and  leaped." 

"  And  praised  God,"  said  her 


88  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

mamma."  Don't  leave  that  out 
because  that  is  the  best  part  of 
the  story.  I  suppose  he  would 
not  have  been  likely  to  praise 
God  for  the  use  of  his  feet  if  he 
had  never  felt  the  want  of  them. 
I  sometimes  think  that  one  reason 
why  God  has  made  so  many  lame 
and  deaf  and  blind  people,  is  to 
teach  them  to  praise  him  for  what 
mercies  he  has  given,  and  to 
teach  us  who  have  feet  and  eyes 
and  ears  and  hands  to  praise  Him 


IJTTLE  SEKVANTS.  89 

with  our  hearts  and  our  lives  for 
His  goodness  to  us." 

"  How  can  we  praise  Him  with 
our  lives  ?"  asked  Susy. 

"  Why,  by  obeying  Him  and 
trying  to  please  Him.  If  you 
had  been  blind  all  your  life,  and 
I  at  last  gave  you  my  eyes,  what 
do  you  think  would  be  the  firsf 
use  you  should  make  of  them  ?" 

"  0  mamma !  I  should  want 
to  look  at  you  the  first  thing,  to 
Bee  how  you  looked.  And  at 


90  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

papa  and  Robbie  too.  And  I 
should  want  to  do  something  fox 
you  for  giving  me  eyes.  But  at 
first  I  shouldn't  know  how." 

"  But  when  you  had  learned, 
you  surely  would  not  use  the  eyes 
I  had  given  you  to  look  at  any 
thing  I  did  not  want  you  to  see  ? 
If,  out  of  love  and  gratitude  to 
me,  you  should  always  refuse  to 
look  at  things  you  knew  were 
improper,  that  would  be  praising 
me  with  your  life,  or  thanking 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  91 

me,  which  means  nearly  the  same 
thing." 

"I  should  think  these  lame 
men  that  Jesus  healed,  would 
have  followed  Him  everywhere 
he  went,"  said  Susy.  "  And  do 
every  thing  for  Him.  /  should, 
I  am  sure." 

"  But  you  have  more  to  be 
grateful  for,  than  those  poor  men 
had.  For  some  of  them  had 
been  blind  or  lame  ever  since 
they  were  born,  and  had  suffered 


92  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

many  years  before  Jesus  came  to 
heal  them.  And  do  you  follow 
Jesus  wherever  he  goes,  thanking 
Him,  and  doing  all  you  can  for 
Him  ?  Look  at  those  little  hands ! 
Have  they  done  for  Jesus  all  they 
could  ?  And  those  strong,  busy 
feet  that  can  carry  you  anywhere 
you  want  to  go  ;  have  they  never 
carried  you  where  you  knew  Jesus 
would  not  go  ?  And  have  you 
never  spoken  any  unkind  words 
you  would  not  have  liked  to  speak 


LITfLE   SERVANTS.  93 

if  you  saw  Him  standing  near, 
and  listening  ?" 

"  I  have  done  a  good  many 
naughty  things/'  said  Susy.  "I 
never  thinked  how  good  God  was. 
And  IVe  said  a  good  many  things 
I  shouldn't  think  He  liked  to  hear. 
I  am  sorry,  mamma.  I  am  sorry, 
really." 

And  Susy  was  sorry.  After 
she  left  her  mamma  she  went 
away  by  herself  and  knelt  down 
and  prayed  to  God  She  thank- 


94  LITTLE  SUSi'S 

ed  Him  that  she  was  not  a  littk 
lame  girl,  sitting  pale  and  sad  and 
jnable  to  run  and  play.  She 
thanked  Him  that  she  had  eyes 
to  see  this  beautiful  world  with. 
She  thanked  Him  that  she  had 
ears  with  which  to  hear  abont 
Jesus,  and  the  holy  angels,  and 
the  happy  heaven  above.  And 
last  of  all,  she  thanked  Him  that 
she  had  a  tongue  with  which  to 
thank  Him,  and  asked  Him  to 
keep  it  from  speaking  unkind  and 


LITTLE   SERVAOTS.  04 

untruthful  words.  And  He  who 
loves  little  children,  heard  her 
prayer,  and  wrote  it  is  His  Book. 


06  LITTLE  SUSY'S 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  next  day  was  Sunday,  and 
Susy  and  Robbie  went  to  church 
and  sat  in  the  pew  with  their 
papa.  Susy  observed  that  a 
plate  was  handed  to  every  one, 
and  that  when  it  came  to  her 
papa  he  put  in  some  money.  So 
when  they  were  walking  home 
tt'gether,  she  said : 

*  Papa  1  who  was  that  money 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  97 

for  that  you  put  into  the  plate,  at 
church  ?" 

"  It  was  for  God,"  said  her 
papa. 

"How  will  they  get  it  up  to 
Him  ?"  asked  Robbie  in  great 
surprise,  and  looking  up  to  the 
sky. 

His  papa  smiled,  and  even 
feusy  knew  better  than  that. 

"  When  Jesus  was  here  on  this 
earth,"  said  their  papa,  "  he  sent 
good  men,  two  and  two  at  a  time, 


98  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

to  go  about  teaching  people  about 
God,  and  about  heaven.  And 
such  good  men  keep  going,  even 
to  this  day.  And  that  money  was 
to  help  feed  and  clothe  them 
while  they  are  preaching,  and  so 
I  said  it  was  money  given  to 
God." 

"  I  wish  I  had  some  money  tc 
give  to  God,"  said  Susy.  "  But  I 
haven't  a  bit." 

"  God  does  not  expect  you  to 
give  him  what  you  have  not,'1 


LITTLE  SEKVANTS.  99 

aaid  her  papa.  "But  you  have 
other  things,  besides  money." 

"I've  got  some  dolls"  said 
Susy. 

"  No,  I  don't  mean  dolls.  When 
we  get  home  I  will  read  some- 
thing to  you  which  will  make  you 
see  plainly  what  you  can  give  to 
God." 

So  after  dinner  they  went  to 
the  library  and  Susy's  papa  took 
down  a  large  book  and  began  to 
turn  over  the  leaves,  as  if  in 


100  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

search  of  somethiDg.  Before 
long  he  came  to  the  place  h( 
was  looking  for,  and  he  lifted 
Susy  into  his  lap  and  showed  her 
where  to  read. 

"  Read  it  aloud,"  said  he,  and 
Susy  read. 

"  I  have  this  day  been  before 
God,  and  have  given  myself— all 
that  I  am  and  have — to  God  ;  so 
that  I  am  in  no  respect  my  own. 
I  have  no  right  to  this  body,  or 
any  of  its  members ;  no  right  to 


LITTLE   SERVANTS.  101 

this  tongue,  these  hands,  these 
feet,  these  eyes,  these  ears ;  I 
have  given  myself  clean  away." 

"These  are  the  words  of  a 
great  and  good  man,  who  is  now 
in  heaven.  Now  you  see  what 
you  have  to  give  to  God,  my 
darling  little  Susy." 

Susy  looked  at  her  hands  and  at 
her  feet,  and  was  silent.  At  last 
she  said,  in  a  low  voice,  half  to 
herself : 


102  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  I  don't  believe  God  wants 
Uiem." 

Her  papa  heard  her.  "  He 
does  want  them,  and  He  is  look- 
ing at  you,  now,  to  see  whether 
you  will  give  them  to  Him,  or  keep 
them  for  yourself.  If  you  give 
them  to  Him  you  will  be  careful 
never  to  let  them  do  any  thing 
naughty,  and  will  teach  them  to 
do  every  good  thing  they  can. 
And  if  you  keep  them  for  your- 


LITTLE    SERVANTS.  103 

self,  they  will  be  likely  to  dc 
wrong,  and  to  get  into  mischief/1 

"  Have  you  given  yours  to 
Him,  papa  ?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,  long  ago." 

"Are  you  glad?" 

"  Yes,  very  glad." 

Susy  sat  still  silent.  She  did 
not  quite  understand  what  it  all 
meant. 

"  If  you  give  your  tongue  to 
God,"  said  her  papa,  "you  never 
will  let  it  speak  angry,  unkind 


104  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

words.  Or  tell  tales.  Or  speak 
an  untruth." 

"I  guess  I'll  give  Him  my 
tongue,"  said  Susy. 

"  And  if  you  give  God  your 
hands,  you  will  watch  them  and 
keep  them  from  touching  things 
that  do  not  belong  to  them.  You 
will  not  let  them  be  idle,  but  will 
keep  them  busy  about  something, 
uther  work  or  play — " 

"  Oh !  will  God  let  them  play  /" 
•ried  Susy  in  a  joyful  voice, 


UTTLE  SERVANTS.  105 

"Well!  then  I'll  give  Him  tny 
hands." 

''And  if  you  give  Him  your 
feet,  you  never  will  let  them  carry 
you  where  you  ought  not  to  go, 
but  teach  them  to  run  quickly 
when  mamma  calls;  and  when 
you  are  old  enough,  they  will 
carry  you  to  visit  and  comfort 
poor  and  sick  people." 

"  Yes,  that  will  be  nice  1"  said 
Susy.  "  God  shall  have  my 
feet." 


106  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"  If  you  give  Him  your  eyes, 
you  will  never,  never  let  them 
look  at  any  thing  you  know  He 
would  not  like  to  look  at  if  He 
were  here  by  your  side.  Not  to 
read  a  book  you  would  not  read 
if  He  were  looking  over  the  page 
with  you.  And  to  use  them 
wisely  and  with  great  care." 

«  Could  I  cry  with  them?" 

"  Why,  certainly." 

"Mamma  says  I  cry  too  much." 


LTTTIJE  SERVANTS.  107 

"  I  did  not  say  you  might  cry 
too  much  with  them." 

"  Well ! — I'll  give  God  my  eyes 
some  of  the  time,  and  some  of 
the  time  I'll  keep  them." 

"  Oh  !  no  !  God  will  not  like 
that,  at  all." 

"  Well,  I  might  want  to — let  me 
see — I  might  want  to  look  at 
something — and  I  couldn't.  And 
I  should  want  to  be  naughty 
sometimes" 


108  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

"A  little  girl  who  loves  God 
want  to  be  naughty  1" 

"  I  love  Him,  I  do  love  Him/' 
said  Susy.  "  And  He  may  have 
my  eyes.  I  guess  I  shan't  want 
to  look  at  any  thing  naughty." 

"  I  dare  say  you  will,  Susy,  but 
if  you  give  your  eyes  to  God,  you 
know  He  will  help  them  not  to 
do  wrong." 

"  Then  I  will  give  them  to  Him 
and  welcome"  said  Susy. 

"  And  as  to  your  ears,  aftei 


LITTLE  SERVANTS.  109 

you  have  given  them  to  God  you 
will  not  let  them  listen  to  a  wora 
that  you  think  He  would  not  like 
them  tahear.  And  you  will  take 
care  to  make  them  listen  to  peo- 
ple who  try  to  teach  you.  They 
have  behaved  very  well  to-day, 
and  I  am  sure  you  will  give  them 
to  God." 

"  Yes  papa,  I  will." 

Then  they  knelt  down  together 
and  Susy's  papa  prayed  to  God 
to  hear  all  they  had  been  saying 


110  LITTLE  SUSY'S 

and  to  be  so  good  as  to  accept 
all  Susy  had  now  promised  to 
give  Him,  and  to  keep  her  from 
ever  forgetting  her  promise,  but 
to  make  it  her  rule  in  all  she  said 
and  all  she  did,  all  she  saw  and 
all  she  heard,  to  remember, 

"  I  am  not  my  own." 

And  then  he  taught  her  the 
lines  you  will  find  at  the  end  of 
this  book.  They  were  written 
nearly  two  hundred  years  ago, 
but  are  just  as  good  now  as  they 


LITTLE  SERVAOTS.  Ill 

were  then;  and  may  God  help 
every  child  who  reads  about  little 
Susy,  to  live  according  to  this 
prayer. 

u  Oh  1  that  mine  eyes  might  closed  be 
To  what  concerns  me  not  to  see ; 
That  deafness  might  possess  mine  ear 
To  what  concerns  me  not  to  hear ; 
That  truth  my  tongue  might  ever  tie 
From  evjr  speaking  foolishly ; 
That  no  vain  thought  might  ever  rest^ 
Or  be  conceived  in  my  breast ; 
That  by  each  word,  and  deed,  and  thought 
Glory  may  to  my  God  be  brought  I 
But  what  are  wishes !  Lord,  mine  eye 
On  Thee  is  fixed,  to  Thee  I  cry- 
Wash,  Lord,  and  purify  my  heart 
And  make  it  clean  in  every  part ; 
And  when  'tis  done,  Lord,  keep  It  ao, 
For  that  is  more  than  I  can  do «" 


\ 


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